The Trading Day · Monday, September 7, 2026

Kospi jumps 4% on OpenAI’s new model: SK hynix +7%, Kioxia +9%, SoftBank +10% — while gold and bitcoin slide on the rate-hike odds

With New York shut for Labor Day, the only tape moving on Monday is Asia’s, and by mid-session it is moving in two clear directions. Chip stocks in Seoul, Tokyo and Taipei are rallying hard on OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra, the new model released last Thursday that Wall Street read as a fresh order book for memory chips: the Kospi is up 4.2% at 6,965, its first time above 6,900 since the late-August sell-off, the Nikkei 225 is up 2.0% at 66,315 and Taiwan’s benchmark 1.6% at 47,300. SK hynix is up 7.4%, Samsung 5.0%, Kioxia 9.3%, SoftBank 10.1%, and the Japanese equipment names that were sold last week on US yields are back: Tokyo Electron +4.7%, Lasertec +7.1%, Kokusai Electric +8.0%.

The Morning 10

1 Seoul +4.2%, Tokyo +2.0%, Taipei +1.6%: Asia’s chip stocks rally on OpenAI’s GPT-6
2 Hong Kong is the odd one out: Hang Seng −0.9%, Z.ai −4.6%, Kingdee −5.2%, but ASMPT +5.2%
3 Friday on Wall Street: jobs beat by 3×, hike odds jump to ~60%, stocks slip — but chips rose 3.4%; futures flat this morning
4 Gold futures −1.4% near $4,480, spot under $4,400 — the 2026 gain is gone
5 Bitcoin just under $80,000: $79,850 this morning after $81,491 on Thursday
6 Currencies: dollar holds 156 yen, won near a two-year high, euro $1.161
7 Brent $96, up 0.8%: the US destroys three Iranian tankers after missiles target two Navy ships
8 Our Asian chip names this morning: Kioxia +9.3%, Kokusai +8.0%, Ibiden +7.3%, SK hynix +7.4%, Lasertec +7.1% — 30 of 35 higher
9 Asia sells software: freee −8.2%, Money Forward −7.1%, Kingdee −5.2%, Appier −3.7% after a 55% August
10 This week: Wall Street reopens Tuesday with Broadcom, Snowflake and HPE getting their grades, Oracle reports, US inflation Friday

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On the tape

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