Nvidia Surges 9%, AI Demand Intact

This indicates that despite Nvidia's strength, the overall market experienced a notable decline.

Most sectors, excluding technology, fell, with memory semiconductor-related stocks showing weakness.

Along with Nvidia, Salesforce also released its earnings, which, while not exceptionally good, were decent. Despite this, the stock price surged by nearly 20%.

This phenomenon indicates that amid the stock concentration around Nvidia and non-memory semiconductors, software-related stocks, which had been relatively overlooked, are also experiencing sharp gains.

The current market lacks any significant economic events before the September FOMC meeting. This absence of events has led to a market where participants react to minor news and focus on short-term trading.

In this environment, the market tends to actively utilize events to create short-term stock price fluctuations.

Recent media reports about semiconductor tariffs were based on an internal Politico source, detailing broad tariffs that had been prepared since last year. However, the White House stated it could not confirm or deny these reports.

Most of the report's content is similar to the reshoring pressure mentioned by former President Trump, suggesting that the White House may have leaked this news with a political intention to encourage domestic investment in the U.S.

Coincidentally, around the time the semiconductor tariff rumors were reported, Micron announced an additional $10 billion investment in the U.S. This appears to reflect the White House's intention to pressure foreign companies into investing domestically, two months before the midterm elections.

In reality, building semiconductor factories takes a long time, so immediate tariff imposition is unlikely. The White House is strongly demanding U.S. investment, citing that most companies' revenue comes from the U.S.

This indicates that the semiconductor supply shortage problem remains severe.

Currently, the U.S. is highly dependent on TSMC, making measures like tariff imposition practically difficult. The U.S. lacks sufficient capacity to produce high-performance semiconductors domestically.

Therefore, rather than aggressive policies such as semiconductor tariffs, it can be seen as a strategic choice to encourage voluntary investment from companies.

Currently, in the bond market, there is a growing consensus that it will be difficult to raise interest rates in September, leading to rate stabilization. This atmosphere is expected to positively impact the stock market.

Therefore, there is a possibility that the S&P 500 index could rise further before the FOMC meeting.

Additionally, various external variables, such as potential government shutdowns at the end of September, could increase market instability.

The hardware sector is ultimately expected to benefit the most from the growth of the AI industry.

Investment portfolios must include AI-related stocks, with a particular focus on hardware companies that directly benefit from AI demand.

In conjunction, financial stocks such as bank stocks are also worth considering as a strategic alternative for portfolios.

This is because global economic conditions and investor sentiment are interconnected.

Therefore, understanding the trends of the U.S. stock market is a rational approach to predicting the direction of the Korean market.