Seoul, May 31, 2026, 02:04 (KST)
SK hynix was near all-time highs going into Monday, after shares closed Friday at 2,333,000 won, up 1.92%. The main Seoul index, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, hit a new high, ending up 3.55% at 8,476.15. Flows into AI-memory trades stayed focused on a handful of chip stocks.
SK hynix isn’t acting like a typical cyclical memory stock now. The company hit a $1 trillion market cap for the first time on Wednesday, joining Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology. Demand for high-end memory in AI chips has cut supply and boosted prices. Kim Young-gun at Mirae Asset Securities said, “memory chip demand to continue exceeding supply by 2028.” Kang Jin-hyuk at Shinhan Securities said ETF buying was driving futures buying. Leveraged ETFs use derivatives or borrowed money to amplify gains and losses. Reuters
SK hynix shares kept moving higher all week. The stock finished Tuesday at 2,052,000 won, Wednesday at 2,243,000 won, Thursday at 2,289,000 won, and closed Friday at 2,333,000 won. The week earlier, SK hynix had ended Friday at 1,941,000 won, according to market data.
Samsung is now sending out samples of its 12-layer HBM4E chip to global customers, shaking up the high-bandwidth memory race. HBM, the stacked memory crucial for moving data in AI servers, has been a key market for SK hynix, but the new move from Samsung could change things again. Jeff Kim, head of research at KB Securities-Jefferies, said early movers usually get most of the orders for HBM chips and that Samsung’s progress on qualifying its chip could shift the vendor mix “toward SK Hynix and Samsung.” SK hynix ended the fourth quarter of 2025 with a 57% share of the global HBM market, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung had 22% and Micron 21%. Reuters
South Korean policy helped boost sentiment. The National Pension Service is now targeting 20.8% in domestic stocks by end-2026, up from 14.9%. Barclays analyst Bum Ki Son said in a note that “booming” demand for semiconductors could run for “two to three more years,” and the fund might stick with its equity exposure to capture any upside rather than selling into the rally. Reuters
KOSPI’s rally is still thin, and that’s the risk for traders. Seoul Economic Daily, citing Korea Exchange data, reported 82.34% of 2,764 KOSPI and KOSDAQ stocks traded lower over the past month while the main index made records. Money kept flowing into Samsung, SK hynix and other chip-connected stocks. If AI demand slows, memory prices stall, or Samsung gets new HBM products out sooner than expected, SK hynix’s premium could come under pressure fast.
Korean markets will close Wednesday, June 3, for local elections, the Korea Exchange said. That includes KOSPI, KOSDAQ, ETFs, derivatives, and commodities.
Traders now have less time to size up two questions: will the KOSPI’s record close on Friday draw fresh domestic money in after the weekend, and is Samsung’s HBM4E ramp a real challenge or only a story for further out?
SK hynix keeps its edge in AI-memory for now. The next few sessions should show if investors stick with that story for earnings or if the market is just too narrow for them to find other bets.
