Daily Briefing · 2026-09-29

S. Treasury yields. As the 10-year yield surpassed 5.24 percent and the 30-year yield surpassed 5.5 percent, all three major New York stock indices fell in unison. The ripple effect also caused Korea's KOSPI to decline for a second consecutive day, breaking below the 7,000 level. Foreign investors net sold approximately 2.9 trillion won, but buying by individual investors in semiconductor stocks partially offset the decline. The National Pension Service was also hit directly. In the wake of the July KOSPI plunge, its domestic stock investment fell by 124 trillion won, and its fund management return rate plummeted from 27 percent to 14.84 percent. In the semiconductor industry, Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Chairman Chey Tae-won met with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang in New York. Six Samsung affiliates invested 1.4 trillion won in U.S. AI infrastructure company Helix, strengthening the Korea-U.S. semiconductor alliance. However, forecasts emerged that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would fall short of third-quarter earnings consensus due to concerns over exchange rate losses stemming from a stronger won. Circumstances have also been confirmed indicating that Samsung Electronics' core 18-nanometer DRAM technology leaked to China's ChangXin Memory, raising growing concerns over damage to technological competitiveness. The United States and China agreed to mutually reduce tariffs by $30 billion, raising expectations for an easing of trade tensions. In the first 20 days of September, exports recorded $71.4 billion, with semiconductor exports surging more than 259 percent, driving a trade balance surplus of $23 billion. NVIDIA approved an additional 204 trillion won, securing a total share buyback limit of 320 trillion won, marking the largest shareholder return program in the history of American companies. Financial authorities uncovered an information cartel in which financial industry executives who were members of a Seoul National University business club shared undisclosed M&A information, reaping 20 billion won in illicit gains over five years. International gold prices plunged 10 percent in a month, expanding losses for precious metal investors. In the real estate market, Seoul's jeonse and monthly rent each hit a 15-year high and an all-time high respectively, pushing the housing cost burden on ordinary citizens to its worst level ever. Bundang-gu in Gyeonggi Province recorded an apartment price increase rate of 29.5 percent over the past year, the highest in the nation. In the bio sector, HLB Group obtained FDA approval for its bile duct cancer new drug Rivceltamig, while Hanmi Pharmaceutical suffered a loss after its anticancer drug licensing agreement with Genentech was terminated, failing to recover an upfront payment of 100 billion won. On the security front, tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rising as Ukraine confirmed the deployment of more than 8,000 North Korean troops within Russia, with additional deployments reportedly being prepared. In the political sphere, political uncertainty is growing as the People Power Party has announced a large-scale outdoor rally from Seoul Station to Sungnyemun on October 3.