Nasdaq 100 Index futures decline widened to 2%

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, after the South Korean stock market closed, SK Hynix (SKHY) ADR (US-listed) on Hyperliquid continued to decline, currently trading at $148.5, with a 24-hour drop of around 10.5%; during the same period, South Korean-listed SK Hynix (SKHX) traded at 1,134 won, down about 8.9%. Calculated based on the ratio of 0.1 underlying Korean shares per SKHY ADS, the current ADR premium is around 30.8%, narrowing by roughly 4 percentage points from yesterday. The steeper decline of SKHY compared to SKHX has further narrowed the spread between the two. The previously tracked whale wallet 0x257 still maintains a convergence trade of "long SKHX, short SKHY", with total bilateral positions of around $7.893 million and a net floating profit of approximately $343,000: SKHX: 2,903 long positions with 10x isolated leverage, position value of about $3.288 million, average entry price of $1,196, floating loss of around $186,000, return rate of roughly -53.4%; SKHY: 31,014 short positions with 10x isolated leverage, position value of about $4.605 million, average entry price of $165.5, floating profit of around $529,000, return rate of approximately 103.0%. The funding fee structure remains bilateral. The hourly funding rate for SKHX is around -0.00303%, while for SKHY it is approximately 0.00185%; under the current portfolio, both the SKHX long position and SKHY short position are funding fee recipients, meaning the whale is expected to collect a total net of around $185 per hour.

SK Group Chairman and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Choi Tae-won responded to the sharp plunge in SK Hynix’s stock price, saying that while he cannot predict SK Hynix’s share price movement next month, investors should avoid frequent trading, as long-term holding may be more conducive to preserving assets. Choi believes that as the AI industry develops, demand for memory will continue to expand. He noted that AI is currently like a "4-year-old child," and as it matures into a full-fledged industry, it will inevitably require more memory, with related demand potentially growing exponentially. He also pointed out that SK Hynix’s stock had risen rapidly earlier, leading to a sharp pullback when market expectations shifted, adding that prices that surge too quickly sometimes need adjustments to align with reality. When discussing South Korea’s AI industry strategy, Choi stated that South Korea cannot compete with China on cost nor surpass the U.S. in model quality, so it should build infrastructure, develop applications suited to domestic needs, and explore niche markets, with a long-term shift from exporting memory chips to exporting computing power and "intelligence."

US corporate executives are offloading stocks at the second-fastest pace in over two decades. For some investors, this is a classic warning sign, as it signals that those with the deepest insight into a company’s operations are taking a cautious stance on the current market. Data from EPFR Global Market Intelligence shows that in the first half of 2026, US corporate insiders collectively sold $776 billion worth of stocks, a 20% increase from the same period last year. Over the past 20+ years, only 2021 saw larger sell-offs, when the market was fueled by massive pandemic-era stimulus funds. EPFR analysts including Winston Chua wrote in a report: “Insider trading activity indicates that at current valuation levels, corporate executives have no strong willingness to increase their stock holdings.” Additionally, insider buying activity remains sluggish. In the first half of 2026, insiders purchased just $69 billion worth of company stock, barely above the seven-year low of $67 billion set in the same period last year. (Jin10)

According to BIT (bit.com) market data, US semiconductor stocks were broadly lower in pre-market trading. Applied Materials fell 6.10%, Lam Research dropped 5.46%, TSMC declined 4.70%, KLA slipped 4.68%, Arm and Intel both fell 4.52%, AMD dropped 4.42%, Micron Technology fell 4.24%, and Nvidia was down 2.95%. The storage sector led losses: SanDisk fell 6.10%, Western Digital dropped 5.75%, Seagate Technology declined 5.63%, Micron Technology slipped 4.24%, and SK Hynix fell 3.49%. Optical communication concept stocks plunged collectively: Coherent fell 6.26%, Applied Optoelectronics dropped 6.00%, Credo declined 5.76%, Corning slipped 5.51%, Ciena fell 5.17%, and Astera Labs was down 5.08%.

The Big Short protagonist Michael Burry said today that with the appeal of South Korean and Japanese markets and the SOXX semiconductor sector waning, now is an ideal time to turn to the Hong Kong market to seek undervalued stocks. He believes some low-valued Hong Kong stocks are poised to perform well once capital flows shift away from South Korea, Japan and the semiconductor sector.

U.S. stock index futures fell, with selling pressure on semiconductor stocks intensifying, prompting investors to seek investment opportunities in other market segments. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped more than 2%, while S&P 500 futures fell over 1%. Nvidia (NVDA.O) led losses among the "Magnificent Seven" in pre-market trading, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is nearing a bear market and set to extend Thursday’s declines. However, even though the S&P 500 closed 0.5% lower on Thursday, 369 of its constituent stocks advanced and 132 declined, indicating the market’s overall breadth remains healthy. Barclays strategist Venu Krishna stated, "Enthusiasm for AI capital expenditure is starting to cool, but the semiconductor sector still significantly outperforms the broader market in stock price performance, while software stocks continue to lag. This shows recent market rotation is gradual rather than decisive." (Jinshi)