South Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 7,981.41 on May 14, its second consecutive all-time high, bringing the 8,000-point threshold within 0.24%. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the rally as Nvidia's H200 China export authorization spotlighted Korean HBM suppliers as direct beneficiaries; the National Pension Service added roughly ₩50 trillion (~$36 billion) in two weeks.
The United States approved approximately 10 Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI accelerator — the second-most powerful chip in Nvidia's lineup — marking the first meaningful relaxation of semiconductor export controls since 2022. Nvidia stock rose about 2%, and Korean HBM suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rallied on the downstream demand implications.
South Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 7,844.01 (+2.63%) on May 13, led by Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) surging 9.91% to KRW 710,000 on robotics revaluation, with Hyundai Mobis up 18.43%. SK Hynix (000660.KS) gained 7.68% to KRW 1,976,000 as AI server investment expectations revived following Jensen Huang's reported China trip. Domestic investors net-bought KRW 3.57 trillion, absorbing KRW 4 trillion in foreign selling.
South Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 7,822.24 on May 11, adding 324 points (+4.32%) as semiconductor stocks repriced after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 5.51% on May 8. SK Hynix cleared 190,000 KRW (+11%) and Samsung Electronics crossed 280,000 KRW (+6%), putting the 8,000 level within 2.2% reach.
Intel ($INTC), AMD ($AMD), and Micron ($MU) all posted double-digit gains in the week ended May 8, 2026, while Nvidia ($NVDA) lagged the group. Analysts framed the rotation as a structural shift toward CPU and memory chipmakers as beneficiaries of the AI inference cycle, with Apple's preliminary Intel Foundry Services agreement as the primary catalyst.
Apple and Intel ($INTC) have reached a preliminary agreement for Intel's foundry (IFS) to manufacture chips for Apple devices, the Wall Street Journal reported on May 8. Intel shares jumped 17%, capping a week of double-digit gains alongside Micron and AMD as Wall Street narratively shifts AI spend from Nvidia toward CPU and memory names. The deal marks IFS's most significant external win since the foundry unit launched in 2021.
Samsung Electronics became the 13th company globally to top $1 trillion in market capitalization, with shares surging 14.41% to ₩264,000. The KOSPI closed at an all-time high of 7,384.56 (+6.45%), with foreign investors recording ₩3.53 trillion in net purchases — one of the largest single-day inflows in Korean market history. AI infrastructure-driven structural demand and Samsung's reported foundry talks with Apple were the twin catalysts.
Super Micro Computer shares jumped 18% after its fiscal Q3 2026 earnings showed revenue more than doubling year-on-year and guidance surpassing analyst estimates. The company also highlighted progress on U.S. manufacturing expansion, a key focus for hyperscaler customers seeking domestically produced hardware.
AMD shares surged 15% in after-hours trading on May 5, 2026, after Q1 results beat on both revenue and guidance. Data center growth — powered by MI-series GPUs and Epyc server CPUs — was the primary driver, reinforcing investor confidence that AI semiconductor demand remains robust.
South Korea's KOSPI benchmark crossed 7,000 for the first time in its history on May 6, 2026, surging 4.54% to 7,252.09 in early trade. The milestone is driven by semiconductor-sector strength — buoyed by AMD's 15% overnight gain — and optimism over U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks that eased oil-supply risk.
NXP Semiconductors $NXPI rose 26% on April 29 after reporting Q1 revenue of $3.18 billion, GAAP EPS of $4.43 and Q2 revenue guidance of $3.35 billion to $3.55 billion. The beat mattered because automotive and industrial demand, not just handsets, carried the quarter.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) reported KRW 133.9 trillion in Q1 revenue and KRW 57.2 trillion in operating profit, both records, as AI memory demand and higher ASPs lifted the chip division. The print resets the bar for Asian semis because HBM and server-memory supply are again driving the earnings cycle.