South Korea's Banking and Securities Stocks Rally 13.7% and 12.8% in Week Amid Semiconductor Weakness

According to the Korea Exchange, financial and consumer stocks rallied during the week of June 29 to July 3, with the KRX banking index rising 13.71% and the KRX securities index climbing 12.83%. Individual stocks including Shinhan Financial (17.14%), Hana Financial (14.49%), KB Financial (13.93%), and Samsung Securities (14.74%) each gained double digits.

Banking stocks emerged as defensive havens in the market downturn due to attractive valuations. Despite significant gains earlier in the year on dividend expectations, banking valuations compressed to 0.70 times book value, creating valuation appeal. Securities stocks benefited from surging trading volumes, with domestic equity market daily average trading value increasing over 35% in the second quarter. Consumer stocks, including cosmetics, food, and retail names such as Amorepacific (24.95%) and GS Retail (16.55%), also gained as capital rotated away from semiconductors.