ETF Movement: AI Capital Expenditure Outlook Boosts South Korean Stocks, Leveraged SK Hynix ETF Surges Over 11% in Afternoon Trading

South Korean leveraged exchange-traded funds tracking major memory chip stocks are collectively rising, with the CSOP 2X Leveraged SK Hynix ETF (07709) surging over 11% at one point in the afternoon session.

As of this writing, the CSOP 2X Leveraged SK Hynix ETF (07709) is up 6.99%, trading at HK$59.66, while the CSOP 2X Leveraged Samsung Electronics ETF (07747) has gained 6.94%, reaching HK$94.4.

The broader South Korean market is experiencing a significant rally today, driven by expectations surrounding AI-related capital expenditure. The benchmark KOSPI index has climbed over 4%, briefly surpassing the 7,100-point level.

In the afternoon session, the Korea Exchange activated a temporary trading halt mechanism for the KOSDAQ market, suspending program buying for five minutes.

Among individual stocks, SK Hynix shares rose more than 5%, and Samsung Electronics gained over 3%. This positive sentiment follows a recent announcement from Google.

The tech giant raised its full-year capital expenditure guidance to a range of $195 billion to $205 billion, up from a previous forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion. Management explicitly emphasized during its earnings call that investment scale will further expand by 2027.

This statement has alleviated market concerns about potential cuts in capital spending by major cloud service providers.

Additionally, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to visit Silicon Valley this Friday. Leaders from major Korean corporations, including Samsung and SK Hynix, are also expected to attend.

The meetings will focus on topics such as High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), GPUs, and generative AI, discussing chip procurement, collaboration on advanced semiconductor processes, and AI infrastructure development.

This trip is reportedly aimed at strengthening South Korea's core position within the global AI supply chain. The cooperative signals released from these discussions are expected to serve as a key indicator for observing investment trends across the worldwide AI industry landscape.