[R&E] KOSPI Plummets on Foreign Selling; AI Infrastructure Investment Accelerates Amid Global Semiconductor Recovery

[R&E: Research & Epoch] This is News Epoch's signature report that provides a perspective on a new era of investment through comprehensive analysis of global financial data and research.

Global Market Brief

The New York stock market heightened caution over interest rate hikes yesterday as the US employment indicators for May significantly exceeded market expectations. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000, easily surpassing the expected 85,000, and the unemployment rate was maintained at 4.3%. As a result, the US 10-year Treasury yield rose by 9 basis points over the week to 4.53%, and the 30-year yield broke the 5% mark, expanding overall upward pressure on interest rates. The market volatility index (VIX) surged by 39.7% to 21.5 points, revealing a contraction in investor sentiment.

However, technology stocks sought a rebound amidst extreme volatility. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by 5.61% after a 10.26% plunge the previous day, suggesting a strong influx of bargain hunting in tech stocks. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) rose by 11.19%, and Micron (NASDAQ: MU) increased by 9.87%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.16%, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose by 0.30% and 0.86%, respectively, showing an overall recovery trend. This proves that despite concerns over interest rate hikes, structural growth expectations for AI-related tech stocks remain valid.

Domestic Market Summary

The domestic stock market recorded a sharp decline yesterday due to amplified external uncertainties and a selling spree by foreign investors. The KOSPI plummeted by 8.29% to 7,484.41 points, and the KOSDAQ plunged by 9.08% to 911.39 points, triggering the third circuit breaker and sidecar of the year. Foreign investors net-sold on the KOSPI for 21 consecutive trading days, dumping 22.5 trillion won in just four trading days last week. Along with this, the KRW/USD exchange rate reached 1,559.0 won, its highest level in 17 years, rising by more than 40 won over the week and deepening the instability of the domestic market.

Today (June 9), before the market opens, the domestic stock market is expected to seek direction between the positive factor of the semiconductor index rebound in the US market yesterday and the negative factor of monetary policy uncertainty due to the strong US employment indicators. In particular, attention is focused on whether the foreign net-selling trend will continue, and whether yesterday's excessive decline will lead to a technical rebound.

Key Industry Issues and Insights

Semiconductors and AI Infrastructure: Export Recovery and Investment Acceleration

The export amount of memory semiconductors in May recorded $1.39 billion, a 278% increase compared to the same month last year. In particular, DRAM exports surged by 466% and NAND exports by 241%, raising expectations for industry recovery due to the spread of AI demand. This is attributed to the expansion of global data center investments and the increased demand for high value-added products such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), which is expected to have a positive impact on the performance improvement of domestic semiconductor companies. Yesterday in the US stock market, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by 5.61%, revealing strong bargain hunting in technology stocks. Intel rose by 11.19% and Micron by 9.87%, while AMD climbed 5.14% after announcing a plan to invest up to 2 billion pounds in the UK over the next five years to accelerate AI innovation. This strength in the global semiconductor industry proves that long-term investments for building AI infrastructure are continuing.

Among domestic companies, SK Hynix discussed the joint development of next-generation memory for AI factories with NVIDIA, and Samsung Electronics discussed HBM4 and foundry cooperation. Hanmi Semiconductor (KOSPI: 042700) signed a 44.2 billion won contract to supply TC bonders for HBM4 with SK Hynix. This indicates that domestic companies are strengthening their technological competitiveness by playing core roles in the AI semiconductor ecosystem. NAVER (KOSPI: 035420) secured priority procurement rights for GPUs through a global AI factory joint business discussion with NVIDIA, and plans to build a 1GW-scale AI factory by 2032. This shows that domestic IT companies are emerging as key players in building AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, in the domestic stock market yesterday, Samsung Electronics dropped by 10.18% and SK Hynix by 7.68%, contrasting with the strength of the global semiconductor market. This implies that widespread selling by foreign investors and macroeconomic uncertainties are having a greater impact on the domestic stock market. SK Telecom (KOSPI: 017670) also announced comprehensive cooperation with NVIDIA to build a full-stack AI factory, and LG (KOSPI: 003550) discussed cooperation in the robotics field utilizing NVIDIA's 'Isaac GR00T', as major domestic companies actively engage in AI infrastructure and technology development.

Secondary Batteries and Electric Vehicles: Seeking Technology Diversification Amid Declining Market Share

In April 2026, the European EV battery market share of three Korean companies fell below 30% for the first time in history, recording 28%. This suggests the challenge for domestic companies to defend their market share amid intensifying competition, even as Europe's overall EV shipment growth rates recorded 9% in March and 23% in April. South Korea's NCM+NCA cathode material export value in May was $470 million, up 7.0% from the same month last year, but down 6.6% from the previous month. Export weight also decreased by 9.1% compared to the previous month, affected by raw material price fluctuations and the global economic slowdown.

By major company, Samsung SDI (KOSPI: 006400) is retrofitting two lines at its Goed Plant 1 in Hungary to meet Volkswagen's unified cell standards, and is expected to secure a double-digit GWh production capacity along with mass production next year. LG Energy Solution (KOSPI: 373220) is building a pilot line at its Nanjing plant in China to verify mass production feasibility, with the goal of mass-producing first-generation sodium-ion batteries next year. This indicates that battery companies are pushing for technology diversification and customer-customized strategies in line with market changes. In the global EV market, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) made up for sluggish sales with domestic sales in China reaching 47,281 units in May, a 22.5% surge from the previous year. However, despite Tesla's stock price rising 4.59% in the US stock market yesterday, domestic secondary battery-related companies Samsung SDI fell by 17.4%, LG Energy Solution by 9.6%, and Ecopro BM (KOSDAQ: 247540) by 17.0%. This proves that domestic secondary battery companies are complexly exposed to intensifying competition in the global market and slowing sales in the US market.

Consumption and Distribution: Department Store Earnings Improvement and Passenger Recovery

The domestic department store market is being driven by domestic consumption and traffic growth, while foreign consumption shows a trend of rapidly expanding influence post-2025. The Q1 foreign sales of three Korean department stores surged by around 90%, showing a similar trend to Japanese department stores, which recovered to a 24-year high of 5.95 trillion yen in 2024 sales thanks to an expanded share of foreign sales. Lotte Shopping (KOSPI: 023530) recorded consolidated operating profit of 252.9 billion won in Q1, up 70.6% from the same period last year, and posted strong results including a 13% existing-store growth rate for domestic department stores and triple-digit growth in foreign sales at its main store. This suggests that the recovery of consumer sentiment and the increase in foreign tourists are having a positive impact on the retail industry.

In May 2026, the passenger transportation performance of Incheon Airport recorded 6.27 million people, a 6% increase from the same month last year. High traffic growth was seen in all regions except Southeast Asia, with Japanese routes increasing by 14% and Chinese routes by 16% in particular. Transit passengers also surged by 35% to 700,000, accounting for 11.2% of the total passengers. This shows that the recovery of travel demand is acting as a key driver for the performance improvement of the aviation and duty-free industries.

Market Signals

• US May Nonfarm Payrolls Increase by 172,000: Significantly exceeded the expected 85,000 and maintained the unemployment rate at 4.3%. This acts as a factor weakening expectations for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) and increasing the likelihood of maintaining a tightening stance.

• Domestic Stock Market Plunges Yesterday: The KOSPI dropped by 8.29% to 7,484.41 points, and the KOSDAQ plummeted by 9.08% to 911.39 points, triggering the third circuit breaker this year. This was driven by a combination of strong US employment indicators and massive net selling by foreigners, which deepened market instability.

• KRW/USD Exchange Rate Records 1,559.0 Won: In the Seoul foreign exchange market yesterday, the value of the won depreciated by about 3.3% against the dollar, reaching its highest level in 17 years. This shows that the strong dollar trend and foreign investors' sentiment of capital flight from the domestic market are intertwining, posing an additional burden on the domestic market.

• May Memory Semiconductor Exports Increase by 278%: The export amount of memory semiconductors in May recorded $1.39 billion, an increase of 278% compared to the same month last year. In particular, DRAM exports surged by 466%, suggesting that the recovery of the semiconductor industry driven by the spread of AI demand is materializing.

• Philadelphia Semiconductor Index Surges by 5.61%: In the US stock market yesterday, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by 5.61%, partially recovering from the previous day's massive decline. This indicates that a strong influx of bargain hunting for AI-related technology stocks has occurred, suggesting a possibility of positively impacting domestic semiconductor-related stocks.

Epoch View: Investment Implications

The sharp decline in the domestic stock market yesterday concisely demonstrated the complex uncertainties of the global financial market. Exceeding expectations in US employment indicators dampened hopes for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) and increased the likelihood of prolonged tightening. This maintained the strong dollar trend, fueling the rise in the KRW/USD exchange rate and the exodus of foreign investors' funds from the domestic market. However, at the same time, strong memory semiconductor exports and expanded investments in global AI infrastructure prove the robust growth trend of specific industry groups. In particular, the sharp rebound of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index reconfirmed the solid fundamentals of AI-related technology stocks. While the domestic stock market reacts sensitively to global macroeconomic variables, core technology-driven industries such as AI and semiconductors are highly likely to show a differentiated trend based on structural growth drivers. Even amidst short-term market volatility, a structural approach to core technology-driven industries remains valid at this point.

This content was created based on real-time tracking and analysis of public data from research centers of major domestic securities firms and global financial media. It is an objective summary based on collected data, and it does not constitute a solicitation or recommendation for investment in any specific stock.