Japan and South Korea Stocks Close Higher as KOSPI Rises Nearly 4%, SoftBank Surges 14% and SK Hynix Gains Nearly 6%

TradingKey - On August 5, Japanese and South Korean stock markets closed higher across the board. As of the close, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 239.31 points, or 3.76%, to close at 6,598.26 points, extending the rebound from the previous trading day. Japanese equities also strengthened, with the Nikkei 225 Index closing up 3.66% at 66,300.44 points.

Source: TradingView

South Korea's semiconductor sector continued to lead the broader market gains. SK Hynix closed up 5.77% at 1,668,000 won (approximately $1,170); Samsung Electronics rose 2.50% to close at 246,000 won, as the two heavyweights continued to provide support for the KOSPI.

Japanese tech stocks also turned in a stellar performance. Kioxia rose 4.24% to close at 54,300 yen (approximately $345); SoftBank Group surged 13.96% to close at 5,958 yen, becoming one of the strongest-performing large-cap tech stocks in the Japanese market that day.

The surge in SoftBank's share price was mainly driven by positive earnings. After the market close on August 4, its core subsidiary SoftBank Corp. (9434.T) announced first-quarter results that beat expectations and projected a 30% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for its AI and cloud businesses over the next few years, bolstering market expectations for the group's long-term AI growth potential.

Meanwhile, overnight U.S. stocks continued their strong momentum, with the Nasdaq Composite Index rising 2.59%, further boosting risk appetite for Asian tech stocks and driving gains in Japanese and South Korean semiconductor and AI-related shares.