Korea’s Brokers Will Cap Margin Loans per Stock — Oct. 19
From Oct. 19, Korean brokers will add limits on new margin loans in any stock above 15% of their margin book. Samsung and SK hynix sit just under that line.
Market Trends
Korea Opened Higher. Its Two Chip Giants Fell.
Seoul reopened higher after a three-day break, then Samsung and SK hynix fell. KOSPI lost 0.89%; KOSDAQ rose 2.98%, its first close above 900 since July.
Korea’s Foreigners Sold All Five Days, but Less Each Day
Korea’s first week after Chuseok: foreigners net sold all five sessions, but daily selling fell from ₩3.2T to ₩0.14T. KOSPI ended −1.09%, KOSDAQ +5.78%.
Korea Got a Chip Tax Windfall. It Sold Fewer Bonds.
Korea now expects ₩63.2 trillion more tax than planned, led by chip-era corporate tax, and cut October bond sales by ₩5 trillion. Too early to judge.
Korea: Foreigners Sold ₩2.9T, and KOSPI Fell Just 0.27%
Foreigners net sold ₩2.9 trillion of Korean stocks on Sept 29, yet KOSPI fell just 0.27%. 74% of that selling hit two stocks: SK Hynix and Samsung.
Korea Heard From Wall Street. Then It Closed.
Druckenmiller visited Seoul on Sept 22 and said Korea has good companies. The Bank of Korea ran a chip-downturn scenario the same day. Then Seoul closed.
How Korea Gave Back a 2.2% Gap Before Its Holiday Close
KOSPI opened +2.20% and closed +0.15% on September 22. Seoul’s own session gave back 2.01%, and the biggest giveback was SK Hynix, 24.54% of EWY.
Seoul Held Three Meetings on the Fed. The Won Fell Anyway.
The Fed hiked. Seoul held two 8 AM meetings, then a third. The index barely moved in won, and EWY fell 3.9% in dollars. Here is what Seoul said and did not say.
Korea’s Two Battery Stocks — One Doubled, One Went Nowhere
Samsung SDI doubled in 2026. LG Energy Solution barely moved. Same sector label, 102 points apart, and EWY holds both without asking you which.
Korea’s Fed Day: Seoul Opened +0.9%, Closed −0.04%
The Fed raised rates at 3 AM Seoul time. New York traded two more hours. Seoul traded the next six and a half, and spent them erasing the overnight gap.