[Good Morning Market] Profit-Taking in U.S. Tech Stocks... Korean Market Expected to Open Lower

S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close Lower

"Korea May See Short-Term Profit-Taking in Semiconductor Stocks"

As the U.S. stock market ended mixed due to profit-taking centered on technology stocks, the Korean stock market is expected to open lower on June 17, 2026.

On June 16 (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) closed at 51,999.67, up 328.64 points (0.64%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 Index, which mainly tracks large-cap stocks, fell by 42.94 points (0.57%) to 7,511.35, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index dropped 307.59 points (1.15%) to 26,376.34.

On the 15th (local time), a trader was working at the New York Stock Exchange in the United States. Photo by Getty Images - Yonhap News.

Profit-taking in technology stocks weighed on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Semiconductor stocks also generally finished weak, with Nvidia down 2.37%, Qualcomm down 3.05%, Microchip Technology down 4.68%, and Intel down 8.45%. Meanwhile, space company SpaceX rose 4.83% from the previous session, marking its third consecutive gain since listing.

Market attention is now focused on Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. On June 17 (local time), he will hold his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) press conference. With the market expecting the benchmark interest rate to remain unchanged in June, this will be Warsh's first opportunity to communicate on his approach to inflation, offering insights into the future path of monetary policy.

On this day, the domestic stock market is expected to open lower, due to cautious sentiment ahead of the June FOMC and the pause in U.S. semiconductor stocks. Ji-Young Han, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Short-term profit-taking, especially in semiconductor stocks that surged the previous day, may occur from the start of the session," and added, "if sector rotation develops into other industries during the trading session, the market could see a narrowing of losses."

She further explained, "Over the past month, the main factors behind the net selling by foreign investors have been concentrated profit-taking in semiconductors and mechanical portfolio adjustments of Korean equities within emerging markets. However, macroeconomic uncertainty has also provided an additional motive for further net selling. Unless the June FOMC concludes with an unexpectedly hawkish stance, the likelihood of further macroeconomic burdens increasing is not high. Given this, it would be prudent to reflect the possibility of improved foreign investor flows in your investment strategy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.