KOSPI Index in South Korea Breaks Through 6,000 Points for the First Time, SanDisk Experiences "Flash Crash" After Short Selling

【Market Review】

On February 25, the stock markets of Japan and South Korea opened higher. The Nikkei 225 index opened up 0.65%, at 57,695.40 points; the KOSPI index in South Korea opened up 0.89%, at 6,022.70 points, breaking the 6,000-point mark for the first time.

On February 24, U.S. stocks closed higher across the board. By the close, the S&P 500 index rose 0.77% to 6,890.07 points; the Nasdaq Composite increased 1.04% to 22,863.68 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.76% to 49,174.5 points.

The three major European stock indices on the 24th showed mixed performance. The UK FTSE 100 closed at 10,680.59 points, down 4.15 points or 0.04% from the previous trading day. The French CAC 40 closed at 8,519.21 points, up 22.04 points or 0.26%. The German DAX closed at 24,986.25 points, down 5.72 points or 0.02%.

【Global Macro】

On Tuesday, February 24, local time, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee stated that further rate cuts are not appropriate until more evidence shows inflation is continuing to decline. U.S. inflation has significantly retreated from its peak but remains above the Fed’s 2% target. Goolsbee said that policymakers have learned lessons from past mistakes of misjudging inflation as temporary and should not repeat them.

【Company News】

Anthropic announced a new AI plugin tool for the Claude Cowork agent. Anthropic said these tools were developed in collaboration with partner companies and emphasized that their AI models help businesses grow rather than replace existing operations. A few weeks ago, an early product release by the company triggered a sell-off in software stocks.

On February 24, short-selling firm Citron Research posted on social media claiming that the market’s valuation logic for SanDisk is fundamentally flawed, and the current storage chip supply shortage is just a “mirage,” with the cycle’s peak already near. Following this news, SanDisk’s stock price briefly fell nearly 8%, ultimately closing down 4.2%.

On February 24, Meta and AMD announced an expansion of their strategic partnership on their official websites. Meta will deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD’s Instinct GPUs. According to foreign media reports, the total value of this deal is estimated to be between $60 billion and over $100 billion. Additionally, Meta will receive warrants to purchase up to 160 million shares of AMD stock at a price of 1 cent per share, equivalent to about 10% of AMD’s equity.

According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, Apple is upgrading its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with new touch screen features. The report states that Apple plans to launch the first touch-enabled Mac models later this year, with a release expected around late 2026. The devices will feature a Dynamic Island at the top center of the screen and will use the same OLED display technology as the iPhone.