Korean Stocks Rebound as Retail Traders Counter Foreign Selling

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By Youkyung Lee and Sangmi Cha

May 13, 2026 at 1:10 AM UTC

Updated on

May 13, 2026 at 8:19 AM UTC

South Korean stocks rapidly erased their early losses to finish higher on Wednesday, as local retail investors bought into a wave of selling by foreign funds.

The benchmark Kospi rose 2.6% to close at 7,844, reversing an early decline of 3.2%. Memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. rebounded during the day, to end 1.8% and 7.7% higher, respectively.