South Korean Stocks Post Record Gain as Microsoft Results Spark Global AI Rally

morning · 31 July 2026 · thread: US Treasury and Japan Coordinate Intervention to Support Yen

8 sources across 5 countries · 1 state-linked

Who reported this

CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
Yonhap South Korea · Centre · State-affiliated · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy
The Korea Herald South Korea · Centre-right · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
Financial Times United Kingdom · Centre · Nikkei Inc.
Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
Taipei Times Taiwan · Centre-left · Liberty Times Group
Bloomberg United States · Centre · Bloomberg L.P. (Michael Bloomberg)

What the colours mean

Left
Centre-left
Centre
Centre-right
Right
Hatched: the outlet is state-affiliated or state-controlled

Lean is where the outlet sits in its OWN country's politics, never on one global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

Ownership is disclosed, never rated.

The South Korean benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged by a record 17.91 percent on Friday, closing at 6,595.45 points. This represents the largest single day gain in the index's history, surpassing the previous record of 11.95 percent set in October 2008. The rally was driven by a massive rebound in semiconductor shares, with Samsung Electronics rising 26.81 percent and SK hynix hitting its daily upper limit of 29.95 percent. The surge followed a three session rout where the KOSPI had shed more than 17 percent due to investor anxiety over artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.

The market reversal was triggered by strong earnings reports from U.S. tech giants. Microsoft reported second quarter results that beat forecasts for sales and cloud computing growth, with Azure cloud revenue rising 43 percent. Microsoft shares jumped approximately 15 percent, adding nearly 450 billion dollars in market value in a single day. Amazon also provided aggressive spending forecasts that helped soothe fears regarding the return on AI investments. These results reignited the AI trade across global markets, lifting the Nasdaq by 2.78 percent and the S&P 500 by 1.66 percent.

The rally extended across Asia and Europe. In Japan, the Nikkei rose 4.03 percent, while Taiwan's Taiex closed up 7.98 percent, led by a 9.98 percent jump in TSMC. European markets also advanced, with the Stoxx 600 rising 0.64 percent. In South Korea, foreign investors drove the recovery with net purchases of over 7 trillion won. The Korean won also strengthened, closing at 1,424 won against the U.S. dollar.

To manage the extreme volatility, the South Korean government increased the minimum cash deposit required for single stock leveraged exchange traded funds from 10 million won to 30 million won. Additionally, the bourse operator activated a buy side sidecar to temporarily suspend program trading during the rapid climb.

How each side framed it

Centre: These outlets focused on the macroeconomic data and the causal link between U.S. tech earnings and global market movements.
Centre-right: These outlets emphasized the role of foreign investment and the technical details of the KOSPI's record breaking performance.

Sources

Centre Bloomberg: Korea Set For Record Surge As Global AI Momentum Returns | Daybreak Europe 7/31/2026 United States · Bloomberg L.P. (Michael Bloomberg)
Centre CNN Brasil: Asian markets rise with AI recovery; Seoul stock exchange jumps 18% Brazil · Rubens Menin (MRV)
Centre CNN Brasil: European stock markets rise with recovery of AI shares Brazil · Rubens Menin (MRV)
Centre Financial Times: South Korean stock market soars 18% as investors pile back into AI United Kingdom · Nikkei Inc.
Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Microsoft shares rise 15.5% and market value gains record US$ 450 bi in one day Brazil · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
Centre Reuters: Stocks climb as Amazon, Microsoft results reignite AI trade, yen swings - Reuters United Kingdom · Thomson Reuters Corporation
Centre Reuters: Microsoft sets record with near $450 billion single-day gain in market value - Reuters United Kingdom · Thomson Reuters Corporation
Centre Reuters: Amazon jumps as AWS growth soothes fears over rising AI spending - Reuters United Kingdom · Thomson Reuters Corporation
Centre-left Taipei Times: Microsoft’s cloud accelerates to fastest growth since 2022 Taiwan · Liberty Times Group
Centre-right The Korea Herald: Seoul shares surge record 18% to reclaim 6,500-point level on chip rally South Korea · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
Centre-right The Korea Herald: Kospi jumps 18% to post record daily gain South Korea · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
Centre-right The Korea Herald: SK hynix hits daily limit as chip stocks extend dramatic rebound South Korea · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
Centre Yonhap: (URGENT) Seoul shares open over 1 pct higher on U.S. tech gains driven by Microsoft's strong earnings South Korea · Significant state ownership or influence · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy
Centre Yonhap: (LEAD) Seoul shares start 13 pct higher on U.S. tech gains driven by Microsoft's strong earnings South Korea · Significant state ownership or influence · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy
Centre Yonhap: (LEAD) Seoul shares surge record 18 pct to reclaim 6,500-point level on chip rally South Korea · Significant state ownership or influence · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy
Centre Yonhap: Seoul shares surge record 18 pct to reclaim 6,500-point level on chip rally South Korea · Significant state ownership or influence · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy

Faithfulness score: 1.00 (fraction of claims supported by the sources, self-judged).