August 11 Korean Stock Market: KOSPI Rises on Semiconductors, Cosmetics Exports Hit Record High

His remarks are seen as reflecting a perception that the market is finding a stable footing.

The KOSPI closed at 6,345, up 45.87 points (0.73%) from the previous day. It opened lower, following US markets, but turned higher as the session went on. Semiconductor stocks rose and fell repeatedly during the day but ended higher, driving an overall turnaround in sentiment. Foreigners made net purchases of 44.3 billion won, though that amount was smaller than before.

On the exchange, as semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted larger gains, capital clearly concentrated in these names. This is interpreted as a clear trade-off in which the KOSDAQ market weakens relatively when semiconductors are strong. Analysts say investment funds flowed into large semiconductor stocks, relatively constraining liquidity in the KOSDAQ market.

The 10-year yield climbed 6.2 basis points from the previous day to 4.3%. The same day, a Bank of Korea deputy governor said rate hikes would continue. The deputy governor did not limit the outlook to a single hike and signaled possible further increases while watching market conditions, heightening market caution about the direction of future monetary policy.

Looking at the bond market, the situation is somewhat serious, and analysts say an additional hike in September would be unlikely to have much effect. The yen has climbed back to around 160 per dollar. Earlier, Japanese government intervention pushed it down from 164 to 156, but within three or four days it rebounded. Since the beginning of this year, this pattern of sharp intervention lowering the yen's value only for it to rise again over time has repeated, raising doubts about the effectiveness of Japan's policy.

IT services, rail transport, insurance and other sectors also rose, but cosmetics stood out for its particularly strong move. This will be covered in more detail shortly.

Although that was still up 45.3% year on year and showed solid growth, the monthly decline is notable. The main cause is thought to be the many companies and individuals who took vacations from late July into early August.

Of the $21.3 billion in exports through August 10, semiconductors accounted for $10 billion, close to half of total exports. Including computer peripherals and NAND flash, their share exceeds half. Passenger car exports, by contrast, were only $0.2 billion, which is attributed to fewer working days during the early-August holiday season. The yellow line representing auto exports on the chart also fell sharply. Semiconductors dipped slightly from $11.2 billion last month but still account for an overwhelming share and continue to drive Korean exports.

Petroleum products were exported in a volume similar to semiconductors and ranked second in share. Steel products also sold well, but autos did not stand out in this export breakdown and were weak. This is closely tied to the reduced working days from the holiday season.

Cosmetics are selling actively both at home and abroad, with record export growth. Beauty-related spending accounts for an overwhelming share of foreign tourists' domestic card transactions, and July export data also confirmed a sharp rise in cosmetics exports. In particular, many Korean basic and makeup products have entered Amazon's top 100 rankings, and Korean companies such as Medicube, Cosmax and Kolmar are performing well in the US market, demonstrating overseas popularity for K-Beauty.

Exports to China and Greater China grew a solid 16%. Notably, the share of exports to Europe expanded significantly, lifting Europe to fourth place among Korea's cosmetics export destinations. This shows K-Beauty is expanding beyond specific regions into the global market.

Lotte Rental has finally completed its sale process. TPG Korea, the Korean arm of US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, will acquire Lotte Rental for 1.3 trillion won. Notably, the head of TPG Korea, Lee Sang-hoon, is the eldest son of former Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Hak-soo, which has drawn attention. Lotte Rental took quite a long time to find a buyer after going up for sale.

A share purchase agreement has been signed under which TPG Korea will buy the 61.18% stake in Lotte Rental held by Lotte Hotel and Busan Lotte Hotel for 1.3 trillion won. Lotte Rental's current market capitalization is 1.63 trillion won, which would put the value of a 61.18% stake at about 997 billion won. However, the actual sale price of 1.3 trillion won implies a total valuation of roughly 2.1249 trillion won for the company, meaning the buyer is paying well above the current share price. This is analyzed as reflecting a large portion of the 'control premium' common in Korean corporate sales, showing how Korean companies' sales markets involve paying more to secure management control.

A heat pump is an electrically driven, ultra-energy-saving technology that heats or cools a building by drawing warmth from outside air and supplying it indoors, and releasing indoor heat outside. Because heat pumps are very energy-efficient, they can dramatically reduce electricity consumption. Accordingly, there are calls for the government to actively encourage heat pump use and set policy directions for saving electricity.

Experts estimate the market could exceed 300 trillion won. In Korea, large companies such as LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics are actively entering the HVAC business, and mid-sized firms such as Daesung Heat Energy, Kyungdong Navien and Century are also participating actively. This suggests the HVAC market, centered on heat pump technology, has very large growth potential.

Notably, a large share of this spending is beauty-related. Of total foreign card sales, 40% came from dermatology clinics and 14% from plastic surgery clinics. Including medical clinics (9%), beauty businesses (6%) and pharmacies (6%), beauty-related spending accounted for 75% of the total. This indicates that foreign visitors are actively consuming beauty and medical services in Korea.

Many cosmetics companies are listed, but clinics are generally run around the director, and while some become corporatized unit by unit, few grow into industrialized businesses generating large revenue. This shows that corporate-style growth in the beauty medical services sector has been relatively limited.

This is seen as a deregulatory step driven by the need to boost AI data center projects and raise funds quickly. However, such easing of financial rules has raised concerns about possible bubble formation, as seen during the 2008 financial crisis. AI data centers are currently a key driver of US GDP growth, and the SEC appears to have eased rules to further accelerate that growth. Bond issuance by data centers is expected to surge from $2.4 billion in 2020 to $15.5 billion in 2025.

A video from him will be posted soon on the channel 'Kim Yeol-mae TV,' and based on what has been previewed, viewers are expected to get important information described as 'jaw-dropping.'

This reflects a perception that, as the SpaceX CFO noted, equipment investment is recouped within a year, so although the price is astronomically high, the hardware remains, enabling high short-term returns. The calculation is that by building quickly and operating for only a year and a half, the investment principal is recovered and the rest becomes profit. However, such signs of overheating could become a potential risk factor for the market, and it was pointed out that one should not look only at the positive side but also remain alert to the dark aspects behind it.