Dollar sell-off occurred in the USD/KRW forward market in connection with the SK Hynix ADR listing.
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South Korean stocks plunge 20%, nearing a bear market; the AI boom faces the awkward situation of "the more disastrous the earnings, the steeper the decline."
According to BlockBeats, on Wednesday afternoon, July 8th, South Korean stocks extended their losses as investors reassessed the outlook for AI demand. The KOSPI index fell by more than 6% at one point, breaking below 7200 points, and has cumulatively fallen by more than 20% from its all-time high last month, poised to enter technical bear market territory. Memory chip maker SK Hynix fell by as much as 5%, and Samsung Electronics fell by 6.9%. The Korea Exchange initiated a temporary trading halt on the KOSPI index, suspending algorithmic trading. South Korean stocks were among the strongest performing markets globally this year, but their performance is highly dependent on SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, amplifying volatility when sector sentiment weakens. Even with Samsung Electronics announcing a 19-fold surge in quarterly profits earlier this week, chip stocks continued to be under pressure. Jordan Klein, a TMT sector expert at Mizuho Securities, stated that investors overreacted to Samsung's preliminary second-quarter results. He believes this sell-off in semiconductor stocks is more a sign of waning momentum than a deterioration in fundamentals. Klein stated that excluding one-off bonus expenses, Samsung's operating profit actually significantly exceeded expectations, with its storage business implied operating margin potentially exceeding 80%. He indicated that Samsung's single-quarter operating profit has already surpassed the total of the past three years, and reacting to Samsung's stock price based solely on preliminary results is "extremely short-sighted." Meanwhile, an AI trading rotation occurred in Asian markets. Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks rose, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rising as much as 3.4%, the Hang Seng Tech Index rising over 5% intraday, Alibaba rising over 8%, and Tencent rising over 3%. Market analysts believe that funds are flowing from crowded trades focused on AI infrastructure to markets with lower valuations and more value-oriented characteristics. Reuters' report on DeepSeek's self-developed chip and The Information's report on Zhipu AI considering designing its own AI chip further fueled this rotation. (Jinshi)
US pre-market news at a glance: Samsung's earnings report triggered a collective weakness in semiconductor stocks in pre-market trading; SpaceX officially debuts on the Nasdaq 100 today.
According to BlockBeats, the following are key market news items before the US stock market opened on July 7th: 1. Samsung released its Q2 earnings forecast, showing an operating profit increase of over 1800% year-on-year, with single-quarter profits exceeding the total of the previous three years. Simultaneously, the company's revenue also increased by 129% year-on-year, reaching 171 trillion won. Affected by the semiconductor sell-off triggered by the "sell-off" of Samsung's earnings, chip-related technology stocks generally weakened in pre-market trading. The three major US stock futures indices showed mixed results in pre-market trading: Dow Jones futures rose 0.41%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.9%, and S&P 500 futures fell 0.09%. 2. SpaceX officially debuted on the Nasdaq 100 before the US stock market opened today, with Wall Street institutions collectively bullish. Most institutions believe that SpaceX is no longer just a traditional aerospace company, but a platform company with the potential for rocket launches, Starlink satellite internet, AI infrastructure, and future space computing. 3. DeepSeek is secretly developing its own inference chip. If successful, this would reduce reliance on external suppliers and give it more cost-effective hardware control. However, the project is still in its early stages and faces manufacturing and memory acquisition restrictions due to US export controls. 4. UBS recommends investors buy SK Hynix's upcoming American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and sell its South Korean shares, as these new shares are expected to trade at higher prices. 5. JPMorgan strategists say the recent weakness in semiconductor stocks should be seen as a buying opportunity, as the chip upcycle is not yet over, and truly meaningful new supply may not appear until 2028. 6. US ADP employment change for the week ending June 20 was 21,000, compared to 30,750 in the previous week. 7. BlackRock will launch an ETF tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index, aiming to meet investors' growing demand for participation in the AI-driven stock market rally and challenge Invesco's dominant position. 8. Amazon is returning to the US bond market to raise funds for its artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company will issue eight benchmark bonds with maturities ranging from 3 to 40 years, raising at least $25 billion in the dollar bond offering. 9. Global brokerages have begun coverage research on Elon Musk's SpaceX (SPCX.O), and a preliminary consensus has formed on Wall Street: buy the stock. At least six brokerages, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and UBS, have given it a buy rating, optimistic about its long-term growth prospects, although doubts remain about profitability and valuation.
Nvidia's market value evaporated by $1 trillion in less than two months, with its valuation falling back to levels seen before the AI boom.
According to Mars Finance, after losing approximately $1 trillion in market capitalization in less than two months, Nvidia stock has hit its lowest level since the artificial intelligence (AI) boom fueled its surge. The chipmaker's graphics processing units (GPUs) still dominate the AI data center market. However, its share price has fallen 16% since hitting an all-time high on May 14th, prompting investors to adjust their AI trading strategies, selling Nvidia and investing in other semiconductor manufacturers, particularly those in the memory market. Data shows the sell-off has driven Nvidia's price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) to 18 based on its expected earnings over the next 12 months. The last time it reached such a low level was in early 2019. To better understand the depth of the decline, a comparison with benchmark stock indices shows that the S&P 500 has a forward P/E ratio of 20, and the Nasdaq 100 has a forward P/E ratio close to 23. (Cailian Press)
UK financial watchdog weighs lifting prediction markets ban: Report
Companies offering binary options for retail investors have been barred from selling, marketing and distributing products in the UK since 2019 following a directive from the FCA.
Bernstein: The storage bull market could continue into 2027, but the steepest part of the rise has passed.
According to Mars Finance, on July 8th, Wall Street investment bank Bernstein released its monthly global memory tracking report, stating that DRAM contract prices continued to rise month-on-month in June, implying that the average price of traditional DRAM in Q2 2026 will increase by approximately 74% compared to Q1. Demand from servers and mobile devices remains the main driver, with Server DRAM prices expected to rise by approximately 60% to 67% in Q2, and Mobile DRAM by nearly 80%. The spot market also shows tight supply. PC DRAM spot prices rose 5.6% to 11.5% month-on-month in June, while Server DRAM rose 6.1% to 26.4%. The report stated that Server DDR5 performed particularly strongly, with spot prices significantly higher than contract prices, indicating that demand from AI and cloud service providers is still absorbing the new capacity shifted by suppliers to the server market. However, Bernstein also cautioned that the rate of price increases will slow significantly in Q3. TrendForce predicts that traditional DRAM price increases will slow to 13% to 18% in the third quarter, down from the steep increases in the second quarter. PC, mobile phone, and consumer electronics customers are reducing configurations or adjusting purchasing paces; while demand disruption is not yet fully apparent, the report believes it will eventually occur. The situation for NAND is more divergent. In June, NAND wafer spot prices actually fell by 3% to 4%, while wafer contract prices rose only slightly by 0.3% to 3.7%. However, strong price increases in mobile NAND and SSDs will still drive overall NAND contract prices up by about 60% in the second quarter. Bernstein stated that SSD and mobile storage price increases could reach 70% to 80%, offsetting the weakness on the wafer side. The key variable in this storage cycle remains AI. Cloud service providers and server customers continue to prioritize securing supply; some US CSPs have completed long-term agreement negotiations, while Chinese CSPs are still negotiating. Long-term agreements help smooth future price declines but may also limit the room for some suppliers to continue raising prices. In its investment conclusions, Bernstein maintains positive ratings for Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk, while remaining cautious on Kioxia. The report believes that storage prices may remain strong until 2027, but will gradually normalize from the second half of 2027 to 2028 as long-term agreements take effect and new capacity comes online.
Trump-backed AI finance company in talks to sell core business
According to Odaily Odaily, market sources indicate that an AI finance company backed by Trump is in talks to sell its core business.