Good morning, you're listening to Markets Desk.
South Korea's equity market just made history, with the Kospi posting its best single session on record Friday. The rally was driven by massive gains in the country's heavyweight chip names, a signal that global investors are reassessing their appetite for AI-linked hardware plays after weeks of uncertainty. The move carries real implications for the broader AI trade worldwide.
Feeding directly into that momentum, LG Chem delivered a sharp earnings reversal in the second quarter, swinging from a net loss of one hundred twelve billion Korean won a year ago to a net profit of sixty seven billion won. Operating profit came in at six hundred billion won, a result that underscores how South Korea's industrial base is finding firmer footing even as chemical and battery markets remain uneven globally.
Stepping back to the macro picture, a growing number of strategists are raising the question of whether a bear market could materialize in two thousand twenty six. With the bull run now stretching seventeen years, history suggests investors should be thinking carefully about capital preservation, and the data points to one asset class in particular holding up best when sentiment turns. The conversation is shifting from if to when.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
