Chip stocks rally in Seoul as AI IPO race heats up
10 reported
Circuit breakers were triggered on the Seoul stock exchange for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, this time due to a rapid market rise after Monday’s sell-off. Shares in South Korea’s chip giants surged, with Samsung Electronics up over 9% and SK Hynix rising 15%, driving the KOSPI index up 8.4%. The rally was partly fueled by SK Hynix’s new multiyear partnership with Nvidia to develop next-generation AI memory. Meanwhile, OpenAI filed for its initial public offering, potentially valuing the firm at over $1tn, joining a race with Anthropic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is due to float on Friday. The Bank of England warned the public about AI-generated scams after deepfake videos of Nigel Farage and Governor Andrew Bailey circulated online. Separately, the UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a Phase 1 inquiry into Paramount Skydance’s $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, with a decision on a deeper investigation due by August 7.
What’s reported
Circuit breakers were triggered on the Seoul stock exchange for the second day running on Tuesday due to a rapid market rise.
Samsung Electronics shares rose over 9% and SK Hynix shares surged 15% on Tuesday.
The KOSPI index rose 8.4% on Tuesday after falling 8% on Monday.
SK Hynix announced a new multiyear partnership with Nvidia to develop next-generation memory for AI systems.
OpenAI filed for its initial public offering, which could value the firm at more than $1tn.
SpaceX is due to float on Friday, and Anthropic is also pursuing a public listing.
The Bank of England warned the public about AI-generated scams after deepfake videos of Nigel Farage and Andrew Bailey appeared on social media platform X.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a Phase 1 inquiry into Paramount Skydance’s $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, with a decision by August 7.
More than 1,000 film and TV industry professionals signed an open letter warning the deal will “prioritise the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good.”
China’s exports rose 19.4% year-on-year in May, with chip exports more than doubling annually.
Key figures
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB
Meg O’Neill, chief executive of BP
Andrew Bailey, head of the Bank of England
Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist
Nick Careen, Iata senior vice-president for operations and security
Lynn Song, ING chief economist for Greater China
Enrique Díaz-Alvarez, chief economist at Ebury
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at W
David Ellison, CEO of Paramount
Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of Oracle
Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO
Sources: The Guardian
