The Ripple Effect

Money Leaving Chips Spills Into Batteries and Biotech [NewsDomino]

NewsDomino 2026. 10. 20. 04:09

Title: Oct 20, 2026 [NewsDomino] Money Leaving Chips Spills Into Batteries and Biotech

▸ The news, in one line On October 19, after last week's crash, Korea's KOSPI fell more than 3% at the open, then closed up 1.76% at 5,768.01 for a second straight gain. But the gains came from batteries, biotech and autos rather than chips.

The first domino (what happened) The KOSPI opened 3.17% lower at 5,488.41 on the 19th, then turned higher as institutions bought a net 574.6 billion won (Money Today). The KOSDAQ rose 1.78% to 808.89, back above 800 (Aju Business Daily). Samsung Electronics gained only 1.16% and SK hynix 0.39%. Meanwhile Samsung SDI jumped more than 11%, Samsung Biologics 9.94%, LG Energy Solution 7.20% and Hyundai Motor 4.49% (Aju Business Daily, Money Today).

▸ The ripple: related events and connected industries

Domino 1 — Foreign investors pulled out of chips From October 1 to 16, foreign investors sold a net 17.716 trillion won of KOSPI stocks. Of that, 80.0% — 14.168 trillion won — came from just two names: SK hynix (9.439 trillion won) and Samsung Electronics (4.729 trillion won) (Newspim). Last week's crash was, at its core, money leaving these two stocks.

→ Domino 2 — 876 trillion won in market value vanished The KOSPI's total market value fell from about 5,638 trillion won on September 30 to about 4,763 trillion won on October 19, a drop of about 876 trillion won. About 660 trillion won of that, or 75.3%, came from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix (Newspim). Over the same period SK hynix shares fell 28.10% and Samsung Electronics 18.81%.

→ Domino 3 — The money changed direction While chips stalled, money moved into batteries and biotech. On the KOSDAQ, Ecopro rose 11.19% and Ecopro BM 8.33%, while chip-equipment makers EO Technics (-2.34%) and Wonik IPS (-0.46%) fell (Aju Business Daily). The point to watch: this looks less like a chip recovery and more like investors switching sectors.

→ Domino 4 — Retail sold, institutions bought On the 19th, retail investors sold a net 1.086 trillion won, and foreign investors were small net sellers of 36.4 billion won on the main exchange (KRX, Money Today). Including the alternative exchange Nextrade, foreigners were net buyers of 624.3 billion won. Hana Securities analyst Lee Jae-man said oil prices, interest rates and the weak won need to ease before foreign investors return in earnest (Newspim). Others still say more time is needed to confirm a bottom.

▶ Watch the episode — Techne (Korean audio, English subtitles)

The next dominoes (what to watch)

  • Oct 21 (early Oct 22, Korea time) Meta and Tesla earnings: Whether AI spending is producing real revenue, and whether investment plans get cut, is the first test for a chip rebound (JoongAng Daily).
  • Oct 22, Bank of Korea rate decision: Most expect a hold now and a hike in November. Watch whether the market crash changes that call (Financial News).
  • Oct 28, SK hynix third-quarter earnings: The stock foreigners sold most answers with numbers (News1).

NewsDomino's take: "Paint with only one color and the picture soon grows heavy. The market is finally dipping its brush into other paints."


🗺 Domino map

Foreign net selling in October: 17.716 trillion won (80% in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix)
→ KOSPI market value down about 876 trillion won (75.3% from those two)
→ KOSPI bottoms at 5,554.22 on Oct 15
→ Gains on Oct 16 and 19; Oct 19 close 5,768.01 (+1.76%)
→ Money changes direction: Samsung SDI 11%+ · Samsung Biologics 9.94% · LG Energy Solution 7.20% · Ecopro 11.19%
   Chips barely move: Samsung Electronics +1.16% · SK hynix +0.39%
├→ Retail net sell 1.086 trillion won · Institutions net buy 574.6 billion won
└→ Next: Meta & Tesla earnings (10/21) → BOK decision (10/22) → SK hynix earnings (10/28)


Sources