Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined in pre-market trading on the 31st following hawkish remarks from US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Wash at the Jackson Hole meeting. As of 8:10 AM, Samsung Electronics stocks fell 2.14% to 251,500 won, while SK Hynix stocks dropped 2.06% to 1,619,000 won on the

Private equity fund JKL Partners announced it will return to a public sale process for Lotte Insurance after exclusive negotiations with Shinhan Financial Group collapsed over price disagreements. The negotiations broke down when Shinhan set a ceiling of approximately 800 billion won for the

According to Asia Economy, on August 31, Enex announced that if designated as a management stock due to falling below market capitalization requirements, the acquiring consortium will file for an injunction to suspend the designation. The acquirer argues that temporary market price fluctuations

According to KB Securities on August 31, Sangil Electric received an investment rating upgrade to 'Buy' with a 300,000 KRW target price, citing growth from on-site power generation (BTM). The company secured 30% of its Q2 new orders (243.5 billion KRW) from Bloom Energy for step-up transformers

According to Hanwha Investment & Securities analyst Kim So-hye on August 31, Samsung SDS raised its target price to 300,000 Korean won from 250,000 won while maintaining a buy rating. The analyst cited the company's confirmed AI data center anchor tenants and plans to expand capacity from 110

According to Shinhan Investment & Securities on August 31, South Korea's KOSPI is projected to trade within a 6600-8000 point range during September. Analyst Roh Dong-gil noted that a fair valuation of 10,250 points applies a P/E ratio of 8.5x to a 12-month forward EPS of 1,205.9, suggesting the Aug

According to Nextrade premarket data, Samsung Electronics fell 2.14% to 251,500 Korean won as of 8:09 a.m. on August 31. SK Hynix and other major domestic chipmakers also traded lower in early morning premarket

Apple named John Ternus as its next CEO on April 20, with the 25-year company veteran set to officially take charge on September 1. He succeeds Tim Cook, who will transition to executive chairman of the board after a 15-year tenure that added roughly $3.6 trillion to Apple's market value. The

The Depository Trust Company, a subsidiary of DTCC, converted eligible US Treasuries and equities into tokenized digital twins on July 15, with BitGo Bank & Trust serving as custodian handling settlement and movement of those assets onchain. The milestone was part of DTCC's Tokenization Service,

On July 15, the Depository Trust Company (DTCC's subsidiary) successfully converted eligible US Treasuries and equities into tokenized digital assets, with BitGo Bank & Trust serving as the OCC-regulated custodian for settlement and onchain movement. Over 30 institutions, including BlackRock,

The U.S. Treasury doubled its buyback program for long-dated bonds to $4 billion on August 19, triggering a sharp rally in gold prices. According to Goldman Sachs, gold surged over 7% in the five days following the announcement, pushing spot prices near $4,700 per ounce as investors interpreted the

South Korea's top five securities firms posted combined net profit of KRW 4.4698 trillion in Q2 2024, up 150.5% year-on-year. Mirae Asset Securities led with KRW 1.9052 trillion in net profit, driven by a KRW 1.6242 trillion valuation gain from its SpaceX equity investment. The record performance

IBK Securities maintained its target price of 81,000 won and 'buy' rating for Hotel Shilla Stocks on the 31st, citing strong inbound tourism growth. Analyst Nam Seong-hyun stated that robust growth in foreign visitors to Korea is likely to continue into 2027, presenting significant upside

According to Economist, Mirae Asset Securities recorded a net profit of 1.9 trillion won in Q2 2026, ranking first among South Korea's five major brokerages. The company achieved 1.62 trillion won in valuation gains from its SpaceX investment, accounting for approximately 64% of pre-tax profit for t

According to Financial Times, tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft reported combined valuation gains exceeding $160 billion from AI company stock investments in their latest earnings, prompting concerns that one-time gains may overstate the underlying strength of the AI boom. These g

According to South Korea's National Data Processing, industrial production in July remained flat month-on-month, released on August 31. Manufacturing production, which comprises most industrial output, increased 0.2% from June, driven by semiconductors (up 20.7%), primary metals (up 4.2%), and

Hana Securities maintained its target price of 2.05 million won for Samsung Biologics stocks on the 31st, keeping its buy rating unchanged. The securities firm stated the company's latest fundraising extends beyond domestic production facility expansion to include securing global production bases an

SK Securities issued a report on August 31 recommending corporate value revaluation for SK Corporation based on SK Ecoplant's performance improvement and shareholder return measures. Analyst Choi Gwan-soon maintained a 'Buy' rating and ₩800,000 target price on SK Corporation. The report

According to Hana Securities analyst Kim Sun-ah, Samsung Biologics announced new funding on August 31 to expand global production capacity and diversify its modality offerings beyond domestic manufacturing. The company plans to invest approximately 1 trillion won in its sixth factory, with