Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rallied on Wednesday on a report that Singapore state investor Temasek planned to directly invest in these two chipmakers, marking the fund's first bid into the South Korean stock market.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix jumped 6.7 percent and 5.5 percent on the news at close, outperforming the 3.7 percent gain in the benchmark KOSPI.
Temasek, one of Asia's largest sovereign wealth funds, has contacted the South Korean government and is considering the timing, according to The Asia Business Daily.
Temasek's internal investment team will manage the investment directly rather than through external asset managers, the report said.
Although shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have skyrocketed over 8 times from last year's bottom, Temasek's latest move indicates the relevant sector still has immense upside potential, the report added.
Previously, Temasek said it was targeting a major increase in its investments in artificial intelligence companies, aiming to lift its exposure to the technology to as much as 15 percent over the next five years from 6 percent. It has owned stakes in Nvidia, TSMC, and ASML.
