KOSPI’s See-Saw Trajectory: Why Tuesday’s Rally Isn’t as Healthy as It Looks

July 14: From panic to euphoria and back again in the span of a single day, the benchmark index Kospi completed multiple mood swings in one wild trading session that investors may wish to take as a sign that this trauma-whiplash isn’t over yet. 

The Kospi opened on the weak side at 6,769.06, down 0.56 per cent, before choppy trade kicked off with Monday’s still-fresh bruises from the index’s worst single-day plunge in months. By 9: 30 am, bargain hunters started stocking up on beaten-down chip shares, lifting the Kospi towards an intraday peak around 6,980, or more than 200 points higher from the open and with nothing more than bargain hunting sending prices back up after a big downward swing without major news breaking. 

The euphoria didn’t last long. At noon, just three hours later, the Kospi had plummeted to its intraday nadir of 6,448.86, a repeat of its dive from open to close on Monday that was its lowest point since late April and marked a more than 5 per cent drop from the previous close, as retail investors dumped shares across the board. 

Act of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix 

It wasn’t until after 3 pm that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix began staging a comeback; the two semiconductor giants, which disproportionately influence the Kospi with their size, soared by more than 3 per cent each on volume that saw foreign and institutional investors pump roughly 4.2 trillion won ($2.9 billion) worth of buying into the electronics sector alone. The index rebounded into positive territory to finish the day at 6,856.83, up 49.90 points or 0.73 per cent on the day. Despite the seemingly tidy close, Tuesday’s session was one of the bumpiest Seoul has experienced so far this year. 

It was also, frankly, not a recovery investors should celebrate. Stock indices that move more than 500 points between their daily highs and lows aren’t showing strength; they’re showing that no one, domestic traders nor foreign investors, knows what semiconductor stocks are really worth after rallying to a June high of 9,386 then plunging over 30 per cent into a bear market faster than most traders expected. If anything, retail investors showed their conviction that Seoul’s top chips have further to fall by selling en masse even amid institutional investors buying the dip — not a sentiment that bodes well for anyone bullish on bottoming. 

Adding to nerves on both sides of the Pacific are oil prices back near $70 a barrel on fears of US retaliation after Iran struck US bases overnight (and threats that Tehran could choke off the Strait of Hormuz), Japan’s Nikkei suffering through its own wobbly V-shaped recovery earlier in the day, and everyone keeping their eyes glued to tonight’s US CPI print ahead of Big Tech and Samsung earnings this month to see if investors have the green light to buy AI stocks once again. Until macro uncertainty abates, the Kospi climbing off its lows shouldn’t be interpreted as a bullish signal just yet. 

Anyone looking at Tuesday’s chart looking for a bullish sign should remember that Seoul’s seesaw bounce was less of a recovery and more of a stark illustration that investors have zero idea where to price this market. For a market that wasn’t too long ago roaring higher with confidence, struggling to pick a direction sure doesn’t inspire confidence these days. 

Credit: CNBC 

Sources

• Korea Exchange, Bloomberg, Seoul Economic Daily, Trading Economics
• Figures as of market close, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.