KOSPI Hits 7999, Closes at 7643 as Foreign Investors Dump 5.7 Trillion Won

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an AI-based customized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six customized news items by reader type.

1. KOSPI Hits 7999, Then Tumbles 578 Points in Storm of Trump and Foreign Selling

- Key Summary: The KOSPI surged to an intraday high of 7,999.67 before plunging 2.29% to close at 7,643.15, swinging 578 points within 1 hour and 40 minutes of the open in a rollercoaster session. Profit-taking flooded the market after an 18.5% rally in May alone, while the won-dollar exchange rate jumped to 1,488 won and foreign investors' four-day net selling of 20.53 trillion won amplified downward pressure. Market leaders including Samsung Electronics (-2.28%), SK hynix (000660) (-2.39%), and SK Square (402340) (-5.14%) all declined, while inflation concerns from surging oil prices drove the 10-year treasury yield to 4.004%, chilling investor sentiment. Daishin Securities (003540) advised that "valuation appeal remains intact, so this should be viewed as a supply-absorption phase," warning against panic-driven trading.

2. Mirae Asset's Feat: First Korean Brokerage to Post Quarterly Net Profit of 1 Trillion Won

- Key Summary: Mirae Asset Securities recorded first-quarter net profit of 1.002 trillion won and operating profit of 1.375 trillion won, becoming the first Korean brokerage to enter the quarterly 1 trillion won club. Net profit surged 288% from 258.2 billion won a year earlier, while operating profit jumped 297.2% from 346.1 billion won. The performance was driven by an unprecedented domestic stock market boom, along with increased valuation gains from investments in overseas innovative companies such as SpaceX and record quarterly results in the global and wealth management divisions. Annualized ROE reached 29%, with shareholders' equity at 14.1 trillion won. As the brokerage boom increasingly concentrates benefits at leading firms, the potential re-rating of Mirae Asset Securities' valuation has emerged as the market's next focal point.

3. Semiconductor Rally Defies War, U.S. Stocks Hit Record Highs

- Key Summary: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit fresh record highs of 7,412.84 and 26,274.13, respectively, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging 70.56% year-to-date to outperform both the S&P 500 (8.28%) and Nasdaq (13.05%). The market's restructuring toward agentic AI has driven demand not only for GPUs but also for CPUs, memory, and other semiconductors across the board, with Intel (250.79%), Micron (178.66%), and SanDisk (551.93%) directly benefiting from the AI boom. Fabless companies including AMD (114.23%), Broadcom (23.79%), and Qualcomm (38.87%) are seen as insulated from the energy price shock due to their lower manufacturing burden, while TSMC (33.12%) is drawing Wall Street's attention as the next memory successor. However, expert opinions on further upside potential are divided, with Tudor Investment founder Paul Tudor Jones warning that "a sharp correction could come after one or two years of a bull run."

4. Samsung Electronics Labor and Management at Impasse Over 'Fixed 15% of Operating Profit' Bonus, General Strike Set for 21st if Talks Fail

- Key Summary: Samsung Electronics' labor and management remained at an impasse for a second day during post-mediation at the National Labor Relations Commission, with the union demanding "institutionalization of fixed payment of 15% of operating profit" and management insisting on "maintaining the existing OPI system." If the union's demands are accepted, the average payout would reach 739.17 million won per person in the memory division and 468.91 million won in foundry, while management has balked at institutionalizing a fixed ratio, citing the massive investment burden of 60 to 70 trillion won per fab. If negotiations ultimately collapse, a general strike on the 21st involving 36,000 union members is expected to cause production disruptions of approximately 30 trillion won, with the possibility of invoking emergency arbitration powers also being discussed. Similar fixed-bonus demands are being raised at other major conglomerates including Kakao (035720), Samsung Biologics (207940), and Hyundai Motor (005380), raising concerns about widespread industry-wide repercussions.

5. 10-Year Treasury Yield Breaks 4% for First Time in 2.5 Years

- Key Summary: The 10-year treasury bond yield closed at 4.056%, up 0.106 percentage points from the previous session, breaking through the 4% line for the first time since November 2023, with yields rising across all maturities from 3-year to 30-year bonds. As prolonged tensions between the U.S. and Iran kept international oil prices near $100 per barrel, JP Morgan forecast oil prices would hover in the low $100s for most of this year. The won-dollar exchange rate breached 1,490 won intraday, dampening bond-buying sentiment, while President Lee Jae-myung's remarks on expansionary fiscal policy stoked concerns about increased treasury issuance, adding upward pressure on long-term yields. Meritz Securities assessed that "unless the government signals debt management through additional tax revenue, bonds are not a particularly attractive asset to buy."

6. Makinarocks Draws 13.9 Trillion Won in Subscription Deposits, Competition Ratio of 2,807 to 1

- Key Summary: Makinarocks attracted 13.87 trillion won in subscription deposits from retail investors, recording a competition ratio of 2,807.8 to 1, a runaway hit in the IPO market, and is scheduled to list on the KOSDAQ on the 20th. In institutional book-building, 2,427 institutions participated with a ratio of 1,196.1 to 1, and 78.2% of total subscription volume committed to mandatory lock-up periods, the highest mandatory lock-up ratio in KOSDAQ IPO history. Founded in 2017, Makinarocks is an industrial AI solutions company specializing in sectors such as automotive, semiconductors, energy, batteries, and defense, with its flagship product being the enterprise AI operating system "Runway." Proceeds from the offering will be used to enhance Runway, including Dark Factory OS and Defense OS, and to expand into global markets in Japan and Europe.