KOSPI rebounded above the 6,000 mark Wednesday, as SK hynix eased fears that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is nearing its peak with a forecast of semiconductor shortages through 2030, record earnings and a sweeping shareholder return plan. KOSPI closed at 6,012.44, up 6.63 percent, led by chip heavyweights. The benchmark index opened 2.33 percent higher, triggering a buy-side sidecar at 9:54 a.m. for the second consecutive day. SK hynix rose 10.89 percent to close at 1,487,000 won ($1,110.53), while Samsung Electronics climbed 9.01 percent to 242,000 won. Foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of 815.8 billion won and 960.8 billion won worth of shares, respectively, on KOSPI, while retail investors were net sellers of 1.8 trillion won. Before the market opened Wednesday, SK hynix reported third-quarter revenue of 104.6 trillion won and unveiled a 100 trillion won shareholder return plan. During its earnings call, the chipmaker projected that semiconductor shortages would persist through 2030, saying its DRAM and high-bandwidth memory production capacity is effectively

Korean investors who piled into high-yield Brazilian bonds ahead of the country's presidential election are nursing losses after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's surprise victory sent bond yields soaring and the currency tumbling, analysts said Wednesday. Brazilian government bonds have been popular among wealthy Korean investors, offering annual yields of around 10 percent and tax-free interest income under a bilateral tax treaty between Korea and Brazil. Korean investors purchased a net $5.53 million worth of Brazilian bonds in September, nearly four times the $1.39 million recorded the previous month, according to SEIBro, a data portal operated by the Korea Securities Depository. They continued to buy Brazilian bonds this month, with net purchases totaling $1.78 million through Tuesday. Investor sentiment was buoyed by improving market conditions ahead of the presidential election amid growing expectations of a right-wing victory. However, market sentiment shifted sharply after the election outcome. Growing concerns over increased government spending and a widening fiscal deficit sent gover

An unprecedented investment boom swept the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by abundant liquidity. Amid the frenzy, a new investment method known as "fractional investing" quickly gained traction. The emerging industry attracted a wave of entrepreneurs who helped shape its standards and practices. Among them was Lucentblock CEO Huh Se-young. His platform allowed investors to buy and sell fractional stakes in properties worth tens of billions of won. Since launching the business in 2018, he has attracted 500,000 customers and raised approximately 30 billion won ($22.65 million) through the platform. While many players exited the industry amid an investment slump and regulatory intervention, Huh stayed the course. He has seen three presidents and six finance ministers come and go. Huh navigated regulatory reviews and put investor protection safeguards in place under the government's sandbox program. He also persuaded financial institutions to adopt a structure in which trust companies would hold the underlying real estate assets and issue beneficiary certificates, while his sta

Korea should capitalize on the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven semiconductor boom rather than curb growth over concerns about its heavy reliance on chips, while building economic resilience through stabilization funds and greater structural flexibility, according to the chief economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Tuesday. "I wouldn't kill the goose that lays the golden egg. It's weird to kill AI just because it's volatile. Let's find ways to adjust," Laura Alfaro, chief economist and economic counselor of the IDB, said during a press conference. "Right now, the game is AI, and Korea is growing faster than other countries. It happened because for many years you have built the production and infrastructure." Alfaro drew parallels between Korea's dependence on semiconductors and the "resource curse" in Latin America, where economies heavily reliant on natural resources are vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices. The region is rich in minerals and oil, whose prices can fluctuate sharply, much like those of semiconductors. To manage such cycles, Alfaro recommende