KOSPI rebounds 1.76% to close KRW/USD hits lowest level in about two years

The Financial Times reported that at least 47 large US data center projects this year were delayed, canceled or blocked from approval. Seoul Shinmun reported that CoreWeave's share price fell 23.6% last week.

According to Edaily, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 10% over one week, and CoreWeave's share price dropped about 25%.

Disney has offered jobs to at least 60 employees of bankrupt Character.AI. The acquisition price for its assets and technology is 20 million dollars and requires bankruptcy court approval, AI Times reported.

According to an internal Anthropic employment report, the junior share of new technical hires fell from 27% in early 2025 to 9% in 2026. As of August, agent working hours were six times those of humans.

On the 19th, the won-dollar rate closed at 1330.3, down 1.1 won from the previous day. It was the lowest close since October 2, 2024. The intraday low was 1327.6 won, more than 200 won below the 1550-won level in early July.

KOSPI opened 179.64 points lower at 5488.41 but closed up 99.96 points (1.76%) at 5768.01. Institutions net bought about 574.1 billion won, individuals net sold about 1.0874 trillion won, and foreigners net sold about 35.9 billion won.

On the 19th, at 10:25 a.m. local time in New York, the Nasdaq rose 1.45% to 26518.43 and the S&P 500 rose 0.71%, while the Dow fell 0.07%. JP Morgan upgraded its ratings on Intel and AMD, and WTI fell 0.79% to 100.63 dollars.

The NAHB Housing Market Index fell 3 points to 29, its lowest since June 2012 and below the expert forecast of 31. Builders cited rising mortgage rates linked to Middle East conflict, and the average 30-year mortgage rate was 7.40%.

On the 19th, KOSPI rose 99.96 points (1.76%) to close at 5768.01. It opened at 5488.41 (down 3.17%). KOSDAQ rose 14.11 points (1.78%) to 808.89.

On the 19th, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.62% to 64,916.70, Taiwan's Weighted Index fell 0.61%, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.39%. The Nikkei dropped intraday to 63,831.78 on credit concerns linked to CoreWeave.

On the 19th, the Nasdaq rebounded on bargain buying in AI stocks, while the Dow was roughly flat. As of 10:40 a.m. local time, the Nasdaq was up 1.18%, the S&P 500 up 0.51%, and the Dow down 0.07%.

Hyundai Rotem's Q3 consolidated revenue rose 0.1% to 1.6207 trillion won, while operating profit fell 11% to 247.1 billion won. Order backlog at the end of Q3 was 29.142 trillion won.

Kaon Cable's Q3 consolidated revenue was 986.5 billion won (up 51.9%), and operating profit was 52.0 billion won (up 99.1%), the highest for any quarter. Cumulative operating profit for January to September was 116.0 billion won.

Fadu's Q3 revenue was 143.6 billion won, up 460% from 25.6 billion won a year earlier, and it swung to an operating profit of 36.3 billion won. New orders from January to October totaled about 456.3 billion won.

Shares of Chinese memory chipmaker Changxin Technology fell 6.31% as of 10:40 a.m. on the 19th, erasing about 192.7 billion yuan in market value. Its A-share market cap ranking fell from first to third.

Camsys's cumulative revenue for January to September was 449.0 billion won, and operating profit was 16.0 billion won, a turnaround from a 10.1 billion won loss a year earlier. Q3 operating profit was 7.4 billion won.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned of renewed US attacks on October 18 and urged the US to accept Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days.

On October 19, Russian airstrikes killed 3 people and cut power to more than 500,000 households. Zelensky said he had received no advance warning.

On October 16, Trump signed an executive order deferring many Russia sanctions that were due to take effect two days later. Bipartisan lawmakers criticized the move on the 18th.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said it shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight. St. Petersburg Governor Beglov said fuel terminals and other facilities were hit, killing 1 person and injuring 5.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 269 drones and missiles, and that it shot down 243 drones and 4 missiles. Kyiv authorities reported 1 death and 8 injuries.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said his visit to Iran aims to prevent a large-scale war from recurring. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said the seven-day ceasefire proposal and the phased Hormuz reopening plan remain valid.

Kim Yo-jong, director of a Workers' Party Central Committee department, said in a KCNA statement that military leaders are reviewing the deployment of tactical strike assets near the southern border and the resumption of anti-South loudspeaker broadcasts.

The four crew members of the second CHAPEA mission reached one year inside the 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston. They entered on October 19, 2025, and have grown crops and carried out simulated spacewalks.

Anil Menon and Joshua Kutryk carried out spacesuit checks. Menon cleaned a cooling loop, and Kutryk filled a water tank. On-orbit biological sample analysis tests were also conducted.

The Launch Services team at the Kennedy Space Center created a standard finite element analysis procedure based on commercial software. It replaces estimates based on rules of thumb, and the team said it saved several months.

On the 19th, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party released an impeachment motion against Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. Together with a letter signed by all 12 of its lawmakers, it asked the Democratic Party to co-sponsor. The Democratic Party said it would discuss the matter after the National Assembly audit.

In a brief Q&A on his way to work on the 19th, Kim Ji-yong, the first head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, named early stabilization of the organization, an end to politicized investigations, and protection of vulnerable groups and victims as top priorities. The official inauguration ceremony is at 3 p.m. on the 20th.

The funeral of Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, who died while rescuing people at the Bucheon factory fire, was held on the 19th as a Gyeonggi Provincial Government funeral. About 2,730 people, including bereaved families, attended, and he will be buried at the Seoul National Cemetery.

On October 19, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held its first audit of the Public Prosecutors' Office, which was launched after the Prosecutors' Office was abolished. The audit covered 11 agencies, including the Seoul Metropolitan Public Prosecutors' Office, and ruling party lawmakers raised questions about prosecutors' accountability.

Rep. Lee Sung-yoon asked Park Chul-woo, head of the Seoul Central Public Prosecutors' Office, whether the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency would investigate Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. Rep. Park Gyun-taek questioned the failure to send a cooperation request in the case involving former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon's daughter.

At the Financial Services Committee's audit on October 19, the CEOs of the five major banks pledged to expand security investment and prevent a recurrence of the hacking incidents in the financial sector. Hana Bank CEO Lee Ho-sung and others apologized to customers.

At the Financial Services Committee audit, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin responded to opposition calls for his resignation over the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs, saying it was a matter for the appointing authority. He acknowledged that the FSS had not directly raised the risks and said he was sorry.

The Daejeon District Court's 11th Criminal Division sentenced JMS leader Jung Myung-seok (81) to 33 years in prison on October 19 on charges including quasi-rape. Prosecutors had sought 27 years. The victims were 16 followers.

The 65th IPCC plenary was held October 12 to 16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with representatives of 195 member states, but ended without agreement on the schedule and budget for the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7).

On October 18, sudden heavy rain and strong winds hit the country, flooding roads and toppling trees. Seoul's Gangbuk-gu recorded up to 53.5 mm per hour, and fire authorities received 129 damage reports.

The Seoul Green Environment Support Center, run by the University of Seoul, will work with Seoultech, Konkuk University, Kwangwoon University and Ewha Womans University. They will identify research projects on microplastics and indoor carbon dioxide reduction, and support research personnel.

The FDA granted accelerated approval to dostarlimab (Jemperli) for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer that is dMMR or MSI-H. The phase 2 AZUR-1 trial enrolled 154 patients, and about three-quarters had not received surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.

According to data from the Association of Regional Public Hospitals released by Rep. Park Ji-won's office, 26 of 35 regional public hospitals had some departments halted or reduced in the first half of this year. Of those 26, 22 are outside the capital area.

The amendment to the Emergency Medical Service Act proposed by Rep. So Byeong-hun would require regional emergency medical centers to staff at least one specialist each in internal medicine, surgery, neurology and neurosurgery on weekday daytime. The Korean Medical Association and the Korea Hospital Association oppose it, while the Ministry of Health and Welfare favors keeping the current system.

The National Health Insurance Service selected Professor Lee Jun-hee of the Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine as its new standing director for benefits through public recruitment, effective the 19th. He said he would work to stop financial leakage.

In the weekend box office of October 16 to 18, 'Chiikawa the Movie: Secret of the Mermaid Island' drew 378,484 viewers to stay at No. 1 for a second week. Its cumulative audience is 1,828,919, and it has ranked No. 1 in advance ticket sales for 24 days running.

'Assassins' drew 140,021 weekend viewers to rank second, bringing its cumulative total to 3,249,178. It passed 'Salmokji' (3,241,491 viewers) to rank fourth among Korean films released this year.

According to Nielsen Korea's nationwide ratings, SBS's 'Doctor X' hit a series-best 18.5% in episode 4 and topped the chart. KBS2's 'Love Is Coming' reached a series-best 16.7% in episode 23.

IVE released the pre-release single 'Looks Can Kill' on October 19. It was reported as the title track of a mini album scheduled for release on October 26.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS. Starter Drew Rasmussen pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and one run, and Brian Baker recorded the save.

Hollys said about 2.76 million records were affected by an intrusion into its membership system. The breach applies to members who joined before February 11, 2020, and the attacks continued from September 3 to October 7.

At the Financial Services Committee's audit of the Financial Supervisory Service, the CEOs of KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH appeared as witnesses, apologized, and pledged to expand security budgets and staffing. From intrusion to detection, KB took 67 hours and 41 minutes.

According to FSS data, from July 2024 to October 16, 2026, five won-based crypto exchanges experienced 5 system failures and 2 external hacks. In inspections, Bithumb and Streami were found to have insufficiently applied the latest security patches.

Digital healthcare company MyBenefit raised 3 billion won in its Series A round. InBody joined as a strategic investor, and cumulative funding now stands at 7 billion won.

AI compute hardware startup Tenstorrent raised 1.5 billion dollars in its Series E. Trace Capital and Innovation X led the round, and its valuation is 6.2 billion dollars.

Indian digital health company Even Healthcare raised 50 million dollars in its Series B. Existing investor Khosla Ventures led the round, with Alpha Wave participating, and cumulative funding exceeds 120 million dollars.

Brent crude briefly reached 109.99 dollars per barrel overnight, its highest in five months, before pulling back as Gulf crude flows recovered to about 80% of pre-conflict levels.

Energy Secretary Wright said gasoline and diesel prices peaked a few weeks ago. According to AAA data on Sunday, diesel was about 6.319 dollars per gallon, down from the record of 6.50 dollars.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on the 18th that a tanker hit a mine south of Hormuz, causing an explosion and fire. UKMTO reported three attacks on ships near Arabia between the 16th and 18th.

Crude volumes through Hormuz returned to pre-conflict levels at the end of September, but combined crude and refined product flows were only about 80% of the baseline. Global inventories at the end of September were 509 million barrels lower than before the war.

On the 19th, Tving said integration with Wavve is needed to first grow its domestic scale. According to MobileIndex, September monthly users were 9.99 million for Tving and 3.97 million for Wavve.

Arirang TV's first live chart show, 'Show K-Pop', premiered at 6 p.m. on the 19th. It will air live every Monday and be simulcast on TikTok, hosted by ZEROBASEONE's Seok Matthew.