Seoul stocks open sharply higher on continued chip rebound

Korean stocks opened sharply higher Wednesday, with the KOSPI up 337.92 points (5.01%) to 7,085.87, driven by a continued rebound in chipmakers. Overnight U.S. chip stocks like Micron and Sandisk rose over 10%, following gains in Korean peers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Mirae Asset Securities analyst Seo Sang-yong said sustained buying depends on big tech earnings and AI investment plans, as Alphabet Inc. is set to report Q2 earnings Wednesday.

Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on semiconductors as investors closely wait for the upcoming earnings release from big tech companies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index KOSPI was up 337.92 points, or 5.01 percent, at 7,085.87, as of 9:01 a.m. Overnight major stock indexes on Wall Street closed higher, as U.S. chipmakers followed the movements of Korean peers, such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Micron and Sandisk both rose over 10 percent, along with other major memory chip companies. "We would have to check big tech earnings results and their artificial intelligence AI investment plans to see whether this upward momentum will lead to sustained buying," said Seo Sang-yong, an analyst from Mirae Asset Securities. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is set to announce it second-quarter earnings on Wednesday U.S. time .