Hong Ji-seon, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced during the National Assembly audit on the 7th that he promised to resolve factors hindering the speed of urban supply, provide incentives to fast-track businesses, actively mediate on-site conflicts and disputes, expand the amount of public housing land starts, promote housing stability plans, strengthen protection against lease fraud, prepare LH reform measures, realize local-led growth, strengthen safety management at construction sites, eradicate illegal subcontracting and non-payment of construction payments, and improve services through KORAIL-SR integration.
Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young promised to expand support for employment insurance premiums for the self-employed, strengthen the social safety net for small business owners by establishing industrial accident insurance premiums and health care support, support overseas expansion of small business products such as beauty and fashion, establish the Startup Venture Regulation and Innovation Committee, revitalize fund-based venture investment, guarantee participation of small and medium-sized businesses in national strategic industries, intensive support for innovative companies in new growth areas, and strengthen administrative sanctions on technology theft for process and coexistence.
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Amid suspicions of a pathogen leak from Russia's Siberian Plague Research Institute, the United States is also monitoring the situation, and on the domestic stock market on the 7th, stocks related to antibiotics for the treatment of plague, such as Kukje Pharmaceutical, Shinpoong Pharmaceutical, and Chong Kun Dang Bio, are rising.
On the 7th, KOSPI exceeded the 6,900 level at one point during the day, but turned downward in the aftermath of the decline in US semiconductor stock prices and is now trading in the 6,800 range. Individuals are net buying, but foreigners and institutions are net selling.
AMD's stock price rose 2.8% on the New York Stock Exchange on the 6th (local time), closing at $649.42, hitting an all-time high, as AMD CEO Lisa Su predicted that demand for semiconductors will exceed supply in the coming years. The market capitalization increased to approximately $1.06 trillion, and Citigroup raised its target stock price to $800.
LS Electric has signed an agreement with Nanya Plastics and KHI, affiliates of Formosa Plastics Group, to establish a joint venture named Namanakseong for power infrastructure projects in Taiwan. LS Electric holds a 50 percent stake, while Nanya Plastics and KHI hold 40 percent and 10 percent respectively. The venture will handle power project orders, engineering and technical support in Taiwan, combining LS Electric's manufacturing and design capabilities with Nanya Plastics' local manufacturing base and EPC network. The agreement builds on a prior memorandum of understanding from March last year on eco-friendly power equipment and energy efficiency solutions.
In the economic due diligence index announced by the Korea Institute of Certified Public Accountants, certified public accountants evaluated the current BSI for the third quarter of this year and the forecast BSI for the fourth quarter at 113, respectively, predicting that economic expansion will continue due to strong exports, production, and investment centered on semiconductors. However, concerns were also raised about increased financial costs due to exchange rate volatility and global monetary policy uncertainty.
On the 6th (local time), the three major indices of the New York Stock Exchange all closed higher. In particular, as expectations for corporate performance grew ahead of the third quarter earnings announcement season, coupled with the decline in U.S. Treasury yields, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index broke record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 253.38 points (0.49%) from the previous day to 51,521.28, the S&P 500 index rose 44.98 points (0.58%) from the previous day to 7,818.93, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 122.48 points (0.45%) to 27,599.79. Transaction completed.
The Financial Security Institute announced that it has prepared the 'Financial AI Agent Security Evaluation Standard', which consists of 17 items in 5 areas, including data contamination, model contamination, extraction attack, evasion attack, and AI agent security, in order to check security threats due to the expansion of AI agents in the financial sector. Among these, there are 10 new threat response items resulting from the introduction of AI agents, the details of which will be disclosed in this year's AI Red Team Report.
Samsung Electronics' DX division announced that it has opened 'My Skills', an AI-based platform that analyzes employees' capabilities in detailed skill units and provides customized training and career opportunities. It has built a 10,487 skill system based on 1.12 million internal and external data, and is participating in the skill-based organizational transformation trend of global companies such as Unilever, IBM, and Walmart.
Goldman Sachs predicted that stock price volatility may increase due to ETF rebalancing, option expiration, and end of share repurchase on October 8, the date of Samsung Electronics' third quarter provisional earnings announcement. Although the rebalancing of the semiconductor ETF may result in mechanical selling to Samsung Electronics, it is believed that funds are likely to flow into other semiconductor stocks such as SK Hynix. In addition, due to the strong won, the operating profit forecast for the third quarter was lowered from KRW 112 trillion to KRW 106 trillion, and continuous selling by foreigners was also pointed out as a factor in short-term volatility.
KOSPI started lower on the 7th, but turned upward during the day, with individual investors' net purchases and Samsung Electronics' rise driving the index up. KOSDAQ continued its downward trend.
Seohak Ant, an individual investor who invests in the U.S. stock market,'s U.S. stock holdings again exceeded $200 billion in four months, which is attributed to continued net purchases by individual investors driven by AI optimism and strong technology stocks.
Hacking attempts targeting the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Bank of Korea have increased rapidly this year. According to data submitted by Rep. Lee Jong-wook, a member of the National Assembly's Finance and Economic Planning Committee, the Korea Exchange Bank recorded 283 cases this year, exceeding the total of the previous five years, and the Bank of Korea also recorded a cumulative 136 cases.
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Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix turned upward in early trading, showing changes of 2.21% and 0.62%, respectively. Individuals net bought 568.2 billion won, driving up the stock price, while foreigners and institutions are net selling. The strong global stock market and semiconductor supply and demand trends influenced stock prices.
K Bank launched the ‘Sunshine Loan Youth’ product based on the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency guarantee for young customers under the age of 34. The loan limit is up to 12 million won per person, and the interest rate is fixed at 1.9-4.0% per year, excluding the guarantee fee. The target population is college students, newbies to society, and unemployed youth with an annual income of 35 million won or less, and the support is divided into living funds and special-purpose funds.
Seoul shares opened lower on Wednesday, with the KOSPI falling 1.11% to 6,864.25, driven by losses in technology stocks despite easing global oil prices and declining bond yields from multidecade highs, while U.S. markets saw gains overnight with the Dow up 0.49% and Nasdaq reaching a record high.
Over the past five years, 3,299 cases of violations of long-term repair reserves for apartment complexes have been detected, but only 408 fines have been imposed, and most of them ended with administrative guidance or corrective orders. Rep. Jo In-cheol called for the establishment of a permanent surveillance network.
DS Investment & Securities raised its target stock price from 1.6 million won to 2.6 million won and maintained its investment opinion of 'buy' due to the improvement in profitability of Samsung Electro-Mechanics' MLCC and FC-BGA business. Forecasting sales of 3.8728 trillion won and operating profit of 651.6 billion won in the third quarter, it emphasized the effect of expanding long-term supply contracts and increasing prices.
LS CV, the Vietnamese production subsidiary of LS Eco Energy, will invest approximately 8 billion won to build a new epoxy insulated bus duct production facility and begin mass production in the second half of 2027. By adding the epoxy type to the existing film type, the total bus duct production capacity will be doubled, and the company plans to strengthen its competitiveness in receiving orders in the Asian region in response to increasing demand for AI data centers.
Major global investment banks have raised their median growth forecast for South Korea's economy in 2026 to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent, citing a stronger-than-expected semiconductor upcycle, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance.
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On the 7th, there is a possibility that the domestic stock market will continue to search for direction due to some calming of U.S. Treasury yields, strength of U.S. AI infrastructure stocks, and mixed caution ahead of Samsung Electronics' third quarter provisional earnings announcement. KOSPI closed at 6,941.39, down 0.89% from the previous day. Foreigners and institutions were net sellers, while individuals and other corporations showed a buying advantage. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix closed down 1.45% and 3.69%, respectively, while KOSDAQ rose 2.98% and recovered to the 900 level.
Seagate and Western Digital's stock prices plunged 9.2% and 6.9%, respectively, on news of competition to acquire TDK's HDD magnetic head business. Toshiba also participated in the acquisition, and concerns that its investment appeal was weakening as competition for pricing power intensified amid supply shortages were reflected in its stock price.
