KOSPI Fell -5.10% While the United States Kept Writing Records - a Week in Which Amazon's $3 Trillion and Two Capex Upgrades Strengthened the Demand Axis, and SanDisk's Guidance Shock Moved the Epicenter of Memory Weakness From Demand to Pricing Power
A week of Korea-US decoupling in which KOSPI fell -5.10% while the United States kept writing fresh records. For the week the S&P 500 rose +3.58% (7,489.72 to 7,757.64), the Nasdaq +5.19% and the Dow +2.96%, while KOSPI fell from 6,595.45 to 6,258.77. The demand axis actually strengthened - Amazon crossed $3 trillion in market value for the first time on 8/3, and on 8/5 a hyperscaler capital spending forecast of $1.2 trillion landed alongside TSMC's raise to $60-64 billion. Yet on 8/6 SanDisk's guidance shock sent SanDisk down 11%, Western Digital 16% and Micron 6%, breaking storage, while KOSPI fell -4.58% with Samsung Electronics down 6.3% and SK Hynix down 10.37%. The Nasdaq closed flat at -0.06% that day. If capex is growing while memory stocks fall, the problem is not demand but the unit price at which that spending is collected - pricing power. Flows thinned by the late-July liquidation translated that shock into a larger amplitude.
Reader's Brief — 30-second TL;DR
Intermediate
Why Now
8/3 KOSPI -5.12% (6,257.45) gives back after the buy-back ends, while New York sees Amazon cross $3 trillion for the first time (Q2 revenue $200.61 billion +20%, Amazon Web Services +36.7%) and the S&P 500 clear 7,600 -> 8/4 KOSPI +1.62% (6,358.95), KOSDAQ +5.88%, the Dow tops 54,000 for the first time on Palantir and Caterpillar, oil slides on Hormuz reopening hopes -> 8/5 KOSPI +3.76% (6,598.26), foreigners net buy 1.4 trillion won, a hyperscaler capital spending forecast of $1.2 trillion and TSMC's 2026 raise to $60-64 billion, and the 30-million-won single-stock leverage deposit takes effect -> 8/6 SanDisk's guidance shock sends SanDisk -11%, Western Digital -16%, Micron -6%, the Dow -0.85% ending its record run, KOSPI -4.58% (6,296.38) with Samsung Electronics -6.3% and SK Hynix -10.37%, while the Nasdaq holds flat at -0.06% -> 8/7 KOSPI climbs to 6,415 intraday before foreign net selling of 863.3 billion won leaves it -0.60% (6,258.77), and after Seoul closes July payrolls print -23,000 (expected +80,000), translated into rate-cut expectations to lift the S&P 500 to 7,757.64 (+0.62%) and the Nasdaq to 26,690.62 (+1.30%), both records -> the week KOSPI -5.10%, the won 1,429.8 -> 1,416.1, a ten-month high.
Winners ?? Losers
What pushed the week up - Amazon at $3 trillion (Amazon Web Services +36.7%), the Dow topping 54,000 for the first time, a hyperscaler capital spending forecast of $1.2 trillion, TSMC's raise to $60-64 billion, 1.4 trillion won of foreign net buying on 8/5, and the rate-cut expectations sparked by July payrolls of -23,000. What broke it - the SanDisk guidance shock (SanDisk -11%, Western Digital -16%, Micron -6%), KOSPI -4.58% on 8/6 (Samsung Electronics -6.3%, SK Hynix -10.37%), the end of the Dow's record run, 863.3 billion won of foreign net selling on 8/7, and flows left thin by the late-July liquidation. Monitoring - storage and memory contract prices, the direction of foreign net buying, the durability of rate-cut expectations, and the reconnection of won strength and the index.
Mon 8/3 - The Buy-Back Ends and KOSPI Falls -5.12%, While Amazon Crosses $3 Trillion
The week opened with a giveback. KOSPI closed -5.12% lower at 6,257.45, handing back part of the prior Friday's +17.91%, 1,001-point surge.
After the buy-back ended
The previous review framed the question as whether Friday's buy-back was a confirmed floor or the final stage of the liquidation. Monday gave the first answer - once the buy-back was done, the index fell again. A -5.12% day is not the size of an ordinary giveback; it is a signal that are still thin. KOSDAQ rose about 2%, splitting from the large caps.
The same night, Amazon at $3 trillion
While Seoul fell, New York went the other way. Amazon jumped more than 4% to cross $3 trillion in market value for the first time. Second-quarter revenue rose 20% to $200.61 billion, and Amazon Web Services grew 36.7%. It was the setup in which cloud providers are the winners of AI , confirmed in results. The S&P 500 cleared 7,600 for the first time. News that a strike on Iran had been canceled sent oil down 5%, adding to risk appetite.
8/3 previewed the character of the week - in the same AI narrative, the United States confirmed a winner and Seoul confirmed a flow vacuum.
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