Daily Briefing · 2026-10-22

The Bank of Korea froze its base rate at 3.00 percent annually, and Governor Lee Chang-yong warned against fiscal expansion based on temporary tax revenue increases driven by the semiconductor boom, expressing concern over deteriorating fiscal soundness. Amid concerns over falling memory semiconductor prices, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plunged over 5 percent, triggering institutional investor selling of 460 billion won and leading the KOSPI decline. Meanwhile in the US, SpaceX boosted expectations of a merger with Tesla after achieving 161 percent revenue growth and its first profit since listing, and JP Morgan raised its SpaceX price target from $240 to $500. Meta Platforms posted record-high third-quarter revenue with 26 percent growth, but earnings per share plunged 48 percent due to a 13 trillion won lawsuit settlement. Youngpoong decided to immediately appeal after losing the first trial of its shareholder derivative lawsuit against Korea Zinc, which sought approximately 837 billion won. With the won strengthening and the exchange rate falling more than 10 percent over three months, profitability at automakers and defense companies deteriorated, leading half of listed companies to lower their earnings outlooks. Hanwha Investment & Securities set a 2027 KOSPI target index of 8500, forecasting a range of 6000 to 9300, and expects a re-rating following semiconductor price negotiations. Seoul apartment actual transaction prices rose 15.5 percent over one year, marking the highest growth rate since November 2021, with outlying areas such as the northeastern region showing larger increases than Gangnam. Amid a special tax investigation by the National Tax Service, Shinsegae Group saw Chairman Chung Yong-jin return as a registered director of E-Mart after 13 years to pursue management normalization. At Toss Bank, a financial incident involving approximately 32.5 billion won occurred due to a processing error in inter-bank transfer deposits; 25.2 billion won has been recovered so far, with the remaining 7.3 billion won undergoing correction. The government is considering an additional deferral of the cryptocurrency taxation scheduled to take effect next January, taking into account opposition from 11 million investors. In the shipbuilding industry, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries completed construction of the world's largest ammonia-propelled vessel, and HMM invested 6 trillion won this year to order 8 LNG dual-fuel vessels. Hanmi Pharmaceutical's domestically developed obesity drug Efpeg will begin prescriptions starting on the 29th, with the first month's supply price set at 130,000 won. In Europe, France's 10-year government bond yield rose to 5.14 percent, the highest in 24 years, deepening fiscal instability concerns.