Japan, South Korea Stocks Open Higher After Fed Rate Hike Decision; KOSPI Nears 6,800 as Samsung, Kioxia, SoftBank Rally

TradingKey - Fed rate decision finalized, Japanese and South Korean stocks open higher with KOSPI approaching the 6,800 mark; Samsung, SoftBank, and Kioxia rally together.

On September 17 during Asian trading hours, Japanese and South Korean stock markets extended the rebound momentum from the previous trading session, both opening higher and surging as market risk appetite recovered significantly. Among them, South Korea's KOSPI opened higher near the 6,800 mark before pulling back, with its gain narrowing to 0.33% to temporarily stand at 6,740.29 points; core tech chip stocks all opened higher and traded lower, with Samsung Electronics seeing its gain narrow to 0.69% at 255,500 KRW, while SK Hynix turned from a gain to a 0.4% decline, standing at 1,752,000 KRW.

KOSPI Index Chart, Source: TradingView

The Nikkei 225 index also opened higher and pulled back but outperformed the KOSPI, rising 0.7% to stand at 64,368.92 points; two major heavyweights opened significantly lower and moved lower, with SoftBank's stock price rising 1.47% to 6,273 JPY and Kioxia rising 0.87% to 51,220 JPY.

The Fed's latest rate decision officially landed, aligning with market expectations for the rate hike cycle. Following the removal of macroeconomic uncertainty, US stocks performed solidly overnight, driving a sharp rebound in risk appetite across Asian markets. As the Fed's policy landed, the yield spreads between the US and Japan as well as the US and South Korea trended flatter. Expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will remain on the sidelines this week also kept the yen in a range favorable to exporters, supporting opening gains for Japan's automotive and machine tool sectors.