PLUS Korea Manufacturing Core Alliance Index ETF (KMCA) News

Express News | The Korea Exchange will launch after-hours stock trading on Monday.

Starting September 14, South Korea's major stock exchanges will extend trading hours to 8 p.m. on Mondays for nearly all domestic stocks, up from the previous regular closing time of 3:30 p.m. This is a first among Asia's major exchanges but aligns with the global trend toward round-the-clock markets. The new measure, which takes effect next Monday in South Korea, will test whether it can sustain adequate liquidity during longer trading days and demonstrate whether investors truly need extra time—even as interest in Korean stocks is waning. Lee Young-jae, a senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management in London, said, "Longer trading windows typically provide investors with greater flexibility, making markets more efficient. Investors who are more trade‑oriented and have higher turnover rates, or hedge‑fund investors, may make more frequent use of them." Edward Kim, head of Korean equity sales at Bank of America, described it as "another step in the ongoing evolution of South Korea's capital markets and their accessibility to global investors."

Breakings11:56

A triumphant return! AI investment star Aschenbrenner re-enters the market, placing bets on SK Hynix, AMD, and others.

According to media reports, Situational Awareness, the hedge fund managed by Leopold Aschenbrenner, has returned to the options market, purchasing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of options

wallstreetcnSep 12 04:58

Apple Is Coming for Samsung's Foldable Phone Crown: iPhone Duo Could Capture Nearly 25% of the Market With 5 Million Shipments in 2026, Says Report

Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) latest iPhone Duo is set to capture 24.8% of the foldable smartphone market by 2026, making it the second-largest brand in the sector, TrendForce reported.The report,

BenzingaSep 11 15:33

DeepSeek Efficiency Gain Sparks New Volatility for South Korean Chipmakers Samsung, SK Hynix

Seeking AlphaSep 11 14:36

Micron, SK Hynix Are Top Bets in New NRAM ETF as AI Memory Demand Surges

The AI investment ideas are moving beyond GPUs as surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) turns memory into a critical part of the data-center buildout. That shift is creating a growing ETF

BenzingaSep 11 00:00

JPMorgan initiates coverage on SK Hynix ADRs: Trading at a 20% discount to U.S. peers, current valuation is highly attractive

JPMorgan believes that SK Hynix ADRs trade at a significant valuation discount compared to Micron. This discount is expected to narrow as ADRs enhance global investor access, liquidity, and information disclosure. Meanwhile, the upcycle in AI memory demand may extend beyond 2028. Leading position in HBM, capacity secured through long-term agreements, and improved shareholder returns are expected to jointly drive earnings growth and valuation re-rating.

wallstreetcnSep 10 19:14

Intensifying capacity crowding-out effect leads MLCC market leader to discontinue certain product lines, prioritizing supply for AI-related products.

① Murata has formally announced the launch of a product line optimization initiative, which involves discontinuing certain MLCC products and expanding capacity for others. ② Market analysts suggest that, given limited production capacity, Murata aims to prioritize high-value-added products for AI servers, which offer higher profit margins. ③ Recently, Samsung Electro-Mechanics raised prices for its MLCCs, with consumer-grade X5R products seeing an average increase of 25%-30%, in an effort to curb order demand and secure capacity for high-end production lines.

cls.cnSep 10 18:51

Is the surge in memory chip prices cooling down? It may dampen appetite for AI investment, as Kioxia CEO states that “prices have risen enough.”

1. The CEO of Kioxia stated that he has instructed the business team not to significantly raise quotes for data center customers, noting that even hyperscale data center operators face budget constraints; 2. In addition to pledging to curb surging memory prices, Hiroaki Ota also poured cold water on rumors of deepened cooperation between Kioxia and SK Hynix.

cls.cnSep 10 13:17

Memory chip stocks rally! SK Hynix hits record high on U.S. market; Goldman Sachs declares the worst is over

A research report from Goldman Sachs ignited the memory chip sector, sending SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed shares surging 7% in a single day to hit a record high. Micron and SanDisk also rose in tandem, outperforming the broader market. Goldman Sachs noted that a technical breakout in the memory sector, combined with low hedge fund positioning, has shifted the "pain trade" direction upward. However, Kioxia’s CEO dampened enthusiasm on the same day, stating outright that NAND prices have risen enough. Amid this tug-of-war between bulls and bears, Micron’s earnings report scheduled for September 30 will serve as a key arbiter.

wallstreetcnSep 10 10:57

SK Hynix Could Rally 88% More, And Micron Investors Are Paying Attention

A stock up more than 500% in twelve months is not usually where analysts go hunting for value. Mirae Asset Securities went anyway. The Korean brokerage raised its target price on SK Hynix Inc. (

BenzingaSep 10 00:21

Why Is SK Hynix Stock Surging on Wednesday?

SK Hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY) stock experienced upward momentum on Wednesday, propelled by a sector-wide rally in artificial intelligence memory chipmakers. Increasing AI demand continues to tighten

BenzingaSep 9 23:53

S&P anticipates that SK Hynix will launch another share buyback program of up to KRW 40 trillion in the fourth quarter. Combined with substantial dividends, this provides fresh catalysts for the "Korea Value-up" market rally.

S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts that SK Hynix is likely to announce a new share buyback plan ranging from KRW 20 trillion to KRW 40 trillion in the fourth quarter of this year. Buoyed by

wallstreetcnSep 9 21:43

OpenAI advances its in-house AI chip development! Expanded collaboration with Samsung may extend from HBM to foundry services.

The General Manager of OpenAI Korea stated that the company has made significant progress in the joint production and research of next-generation chips with Samsung Electronics. The collaboration between the two parties has expanded from the supply of HBM4 memory to exploring foundry and packaging services. Furthermore, the number of corporate users of ChatGPT Enterprise in South Korea has surged 28-fold over the past year, making Samsung one of its largest corporate deployments globally.

wallstreetcnSep 9 20:38

OpenAI Partners with Samsung to "Build Chips": Joint Development of Next-Generation Chips

1. OpenAI and Samsung Electronics are deepening their collaboration to explore self-developed chips, extending their partnership into the semiconductor and enterprise AI services sectors; 2. Currently, OpenAI is prioritizing South Korean semiconductor suppliers as key partners; 3. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics is one of the largest companies globally in terms of ChatGPT deployment.

cls.cnSep 9 16:50

Morgan Stanley Explains the True Significance of GPT-6 Astra: Shifting the “AI Narrative” from “Demand Debates” Back to “Physical Bottlenecks”

Morgan Stanley believes that the release of GPT-6 Astra will shift the focus of the AI narrative from “whether demand is excessive” to “whether physical supply can keep pace.” The leap in capabilities brought by Astra will trigger more AI revenue scenarios. However, shortages of ABF substrates, manufacturing bottlenecks for HBM4E, and a 38-gigawatt power gap are the hard constraints truly limiting the realization of AI dividends. The firm recommends the following priority order: AI computing power as the top priority, followed by networking; selective allocation for memory; and analog chips as an early-cycle hedge.

wallstreetcnSep 9 16:33

Samsung Electronics' U.S. plant to begin trial production of 2nm chips at month-end; orders fully booked, poised to challenge Taiwan Semiconductor

① Samsung Electronics' Taylor fab in Texas is scheduled to begin trial production of 2nm chips by the end of this month, with all current capacity fully booked and an initial monthly output of 50,000 wafers; ② The facility has secured orders from companies such as Tesla and Broadcom, and Samsung expects its 2nm order volume to more than double compared to last year; ③ Construction on Phase II of the Taylor fab is planned to commence by year-end, with mass production targeted for 2030.

cls.cnSep 8 16:05

ASML Wins Commitments From Samsung, TSMC for New Chipmaking Gear

Seeking AlphaSep 8 15:59

Samsung's 4nm process running at full capacity; over half of production allocated to HBM4

① According to reports, Samsung Electronics' 4-nanometer process node is operating at full capacity, with 50%-60% of its output dedicated to producing base dies for HBM4 memory chips, corresponding to a monthly capacity of 15,000 wafers; ② Surging demand for artificial intelligence is driving Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron to accelerate HBM production expansion, thereby squeezing capacity for traditional DRAM.

cls.cnSep 8 11:34

As AI Models Grow More Powerful, Does Storage Demand Surge? OpenAI’s Astra Reignites the “Memory Chip Trade”

The release of OpenAI’s flagship model, Astra, has reignited market enthusiasm for AI computing infrastructure. Memory chips are among the first to benefit, with U.S. semiconductor stocks and leading Asian memory manufacturers rallying collectively. Institutions believe that as the capabilities of frontier models continue to improve, the gap between AI computing demand and memory bottlenecks will widen further, making HBM and DRAM key themes in AI infrastructure investment.

wallstreetcnSep 7 21:26

South Korean brokerages warn: Memory chip inventories at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have fallen to less than 10 days of supply

① KB Securities, a South Korean brokerage, warned that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have less than 10 days of memory semiconductor inventory, with available supply potentially exhausted by next year; ② It further noted that mass production of HBM4 is crowding out traditional DRAM capacity, and demand for DRAM and NAND is expected to exceed supply by more than 10 percentage points next year; ③ Analysts believe the stocks of both companies are currently severely undervalued, with earnings poised to hit record highs for three consecutive years.

cls.cnSep 7 16:19