US and Korea Stock Morning News｜July 21

US stocks are trading choppily at high levels with divergence, while Korean stocks have rebounded strongly by 3% after a de-leveraging storm.
US stocks: mixed gains and losses, AI computing power strengthens against the trend
Last night, the three major indexes closed slightly lower, but the market was a mix of “ice and fire.”
Apple fell 2%, Tesla slid 3%, and Oracle dropped 4%.
AI compute stocks surged across the board: IREN jumped 19%, and Hut 8 rose 10%+.
Storage chip sentiment picked up: Marvell, Micron, and Western Digital all gained 2-4%.
Sentiment: hedge funds are selling tech stocks at a record pace, and capital is starting to rotate from AI into consumer and energy sectors. The market isn’t bearish on AI—it’s just rotating holdings at high levels.
The Nasdaq is down nearly 3% from its peak; in the short term it’s looking for support around 25,500.
Korean stocks: an “absolute counterattack” after the crash
Yesterday, KOSPI plunged 4.46%, and today it rebounded directly by 3%+; Samsung Electronics is up more than 5.5%.
The core reason for this crash can be summed up in one word: leverage.
The 2x-leverage ETFs from Samsung/SK Hynix launched at the end of May, drew retail capital into a frenzy. Since July began, forced liquidations have exceeded 340 billion KRW, and more than 300,000 accounts have been cleared.
But a turnaround has emerged:
Foreign capital bought 500 billion KRW against the trend during the crash+
The South Korean president said he will address the problem of leverage products
SK’s chairman said next year, demand for AI chips will rise 60%-100%
As de-leveraging nears the end, the fundamentals haven’t broken—what’s falling is sentiment and positioning structure.
Key focus points this week
Tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon will release earnings reports in close succession this week. Their AI capital expenditure guidance will determine the next direction for the entire semiconductor chain (including Korean chip stocks).
US stocks are digesting at high levels, Korean stocks are gambling from low levels—this week’s earnings season is the deciding factor.