Japan, South Korea Stocks Diverge in Early Trade; Kospi Rises Over 1% as Samsung, SK Hynix Both Advance

TradingKey - On August 12, Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened on a stronger note. SK Hynix rose more than 1%, Samsung Electronics gained nearly 2%, while SoftBank and Kioxia edged slightly higher.

South Korea's KOSPI Index opened 1.47% higher at 6,438.50 points, before paring some gains to trade up 1.28% at 6,426.45 points.

Source: TradingView

Japan's Nikkei 225 Index opened up 0.04% at 66,994.05 points, before turning down 0.15% to 66,868.55 points.

Heavyweight South Korean semiconductor stocks performed strongly, with SK Hynix trading at 1,449,000 won (about $1,025), up 1.68%, and Samsung Electronics trading at 244,500 won, up 1.98%.

In the Japanese market, Kioxia rose 0.67% to 48,330 yen (about $304), while SoftBank Group edged up 0.16% to 5,493 yen.

Leading South Korean semiconductor companies continue to face valuation pressure recently. As market concerns grow that the cycle for traditional memory chips may be approaching a peak, some brokerages have begun lowering price targets for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

South Korea's Kiwoom Securities recently lowered its price target for Samsung Electronics from 390,000 won to 350,000 won, while cutting SK Hynix's target from 2.2 million won to 2.1 million won. However, both companies maintained "Buy" ratings, indicating that institutional views on their long-term fundamentals have not fundamentally changed.

Overnight, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower across the board, but optical communications, memory, and semiconductor sectors bucked the trend to move higher, with SK Hynix (SKHY) rising over 4% and SanDisk (SNDK) gaining over 2%.

Meanwhile, the situation in the Middle East continues to impact market risk appetite. An advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader stated that the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until relevant conditions are met. Investors still need to pay attention to the potential impact of energy supply and oil price volatility on global markets.