SEOUL — South Korean equities rebounded sharply during morning trade on Wednesday, shrugging off an initial downturn that was triggered by overnight losses on Wall Street and growing concerns over tighter U.S. monetary policy.

As of 10:48 a.m., the benchmark KOSPI advanced 58.42 points, or 1.12%, to trade at 5,297.55. The index initially opened 29.42 points (0.56%) lower at 5,209.71 and fluctuated in negative territory before gaining upward momentum, briefly touching a high of 1.63%.

Foreign and retail investors maintained a net-selling posture, offloading 72.1 billion won and 119.1 billion won, respectively. Meanwhile, institutional investors stepped in to support the market, registering a net-buying total of 29.4 billion won.

Wall Street Spillover and Inflation Pressures

The domestic market's cautious opening mirrored a broad pullback in U.S. equities overnight. Wall Street indices retreated after the latest U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for October exceeded market forecasts. Headline CPI rose 0.4% month-on-month, while core CPI climbed 0.3%, both outpacing expectations by 0.1 percentage points and intensifying fears of prolonged macroeconomic tightening.

Investor anxiety deepened following remarks by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who hinted at the possibility of a 50-basis-point rate hike—a "big step"—if core inflation prints persist at or above the 0.3% threshold. Consequently, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note briefly pierced the 5% mark during the session.

Semiconductor shares also faced headwinds following governance controversies surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, which reignited worries over potential regulatory crackdowns. Nvidia shares dropped 5.47% for their second consecutive session of sharp declines. Other memory and tech names followed suit: Micron slipped 1.1%, SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) fell 3.51%, and SanDisk dropped 2.99%, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 0.35%.

CoreWeave Earnings and Anthropic IPO Optimism

Despite macroeconomic headwinds, sentiment found relief in robust artificial intelligence infrastructure indicators. CoreWeave, a prominent neo-cloud provider closely watched as a barometer for AI capital expenditures, reported third-quarter revenue of $3.661 billion—a 168% surge year-on-year that beat consensus estimates of $3.55 billion. Though the company posted a net loss of $790 million, its operating profit skyrocketed 298% to $207 million, lifting CoreWeave shares by 7.90% in after-hours trading.

Furthermore, markets are closely monitoring the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of Anthropic, slated for November 19. According to reports citing sources familiar with the matter, underwriting syndicates led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are poised to price the IPO above the initial $70–$78 per share target range following a strong response during investor roadshows. This could push Anthropic's valuation anywhere from $1.4 trillion to over $1.5 trillion (approx. 2,060 trillion won).

Kim Jae-seung, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, noted that the high demand signals robust capital inflow, helping alleviate lingering anxieties over the sustainability of AI investments and rejuvenating local semiconductor sentiment.

Despite opening weak, heavyweight tech shares bounced back: Samsung Electronics rose 1.06%, and SK Hynix gained 2.39%. Among other top-tier caps, SK Square (+0.26%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (+0.06%), and KB Financial (+0.59%) moved higher, while LG Energy Solution (-0.30%), Samsung Biologics (-1.63%), and Hyundai Motor (-1.45%) traded lower.

Sector-wise, Medical & Precision Instruments (+8.23%), Entertainment & Culture (+2.98%), and Paper & Wood (+1.28%) led the gains, whereas Insurance (-2.12%), Textiles & Apparel (-1.76%), and IT Services (-1.44%) lagged.

KOSDAQ Nears the 700 Milestone

Concurrently, the tech-heavy KOSDAQ index experienced a powerful rally, surging 28.28 points (4.24%) to 695.89 and nearing the psychological 700 threshold.

After opening marginally higher by 0.87 points (0.13%) at 668.48, the index accelerated its gains, peaking at 697.33 (+4.45%) during the morning session. Institutional buyers led the KOSDAQ rally with 78.2 billion won in net purchases, while retail and foreign investors net-sold 62.6 billion won and 15.7 billion won, respectively.

Key KOSDAQ sectors posted robust advances, led by Non-Metals (+7.39%), Machinery & Equipment (+6.99%), and Financials (+6.14%). Major market heavyweights such as Alteogen (+2.67%), EcoPro (+8.68%), and EcoPro BM (+9.94%) recorded steep gains, offsetting minor pullbacks in HLB (-1.82%) and PharmaResearch (-0.80%).

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