The rumors of Temasek's involvement have sparked bullish sentiment, with Samsung and SK Hynix both continuing their upward momentum.

Korean chip giants continued to strengthen on Wednesday, benefiting from a rebound in market risk appetite following last month's sharp decline, while traders were digesting a local media report that Singapores Temasek Holdings plans to invest in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. According to reports, Temasek intends to directly invest in the two chip manufacturers through its internal investment team and is currently assessing the timing for entry. Boosted by this news, the stock prices of Samsung and SK Hynix at one point expanded gains to over 8%, while South Korea's benchmark stock index, the Kospi, surged by 5.1%. Homin Lee, a senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier Singapore, stated, "This suggests that long-term investors are becoming increasingly interested in the deeply undervalued semiconductor sector in Korea. If the volatility driven by retail investors stabilizes, more aggressive foreign institutions are likely to view these core stocks as opportunities for positioning." As of the time of writing, Temasek had not responded to the report. The two chip giants faced intense sell-offs in July, primarily due to market concerns regarding the sustainability of rapid expansion in AI infrastructure, which led to concentrated liquidation of leveraged positions. Recently, as market expectations grew that the two companies could enhance shareholder returns through buybacks and increased dividends, their stock prices have continued to recover. SK Hynix announced last Friday that it would disclose details of its shareholder return plan in the third quarter. Samsung Electronics is expected to follow suit, with KB Securities analysts predicting that its shareholder return scale could increase by more than tenfold compared to the current level. After the significant drop in July, the valuations of memory chip manufacturers have fallen to historical lows. The dynamic price-to-earnings ratios of Samsung and SK Hynix are 4.2 times and 3.6 times, respectively, while the global semiconductor industry benchmark, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, has a price-to-earnings ratio exceeding 21 times. As of Wednesday's trading session, global funds net bought over 2 trillion won (approximately $1.4 billion) in Kospi constituent stocks, while retail investors showed a net selling trend. Ha SeokKeun, Chief Investment Officer at Eugene Asset Management, noted that if Temaseks entry is confirmed, it would signal "a clear indication of foreign capital's strong confidence in the Korean AI/memory cycle" and could become one of the drivers supporting the rebound of the Kospi.