A jump in South Korean stocks drove emerging-market equities higher on Thursday as the revival in the global AI trade pushed Seoul's Kospi index into a technical bull market. MSCI's developing-nation stocks benchmark rose 0.8% by 9:50 a.m. in London, with four of the top six contributors to the day's gains listed in South Korea. The Kospi gained 3.6% on Thursday, extending its gain from a July 30 low to around 22%, as heavyweight memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. both jumped about 5%. Jefferies International strategist Mohit Kumar said the firm remains comfortable with its overweight position in the AI sector, noting earnings season has been strong and shows no signs of slowdown in capex. In other markets, the benchmark BUX index in Budapest traded around record levels after closing above 150,000 points for the first time in the previous session, while most currency markets were less lively with the relevant MSCI gauge less than 0.1% lower on the day.
