GS Korea KOSPI +18, Taiwan TAIEX +8, Japan NKY +4

Korea KOSPI +18%, Taiwan TAIEX +8%, Japan NKY +4%...

Some wild moves in Asia overnight… Korea KOSPI +18%, Taiwan TAIEX +8%, Japan NKY +4%... Our Asia wrap below – let me know if you’re not yet receiving the below recap email.

For Korea, strong rebound for SEC(005930) +26.8%, SK HYNIX(000660) +29.95%, SK SQUARE(402340) +29.91% driven by overnight price action on momentum recovery which also fueled a strong revival in sentiment on the broader AI trade in Asia. Market continues to be a flow driven one where the desk saw an influx of buying across key memory names, mainly from fast money investors (mix of covers + long buys), while LO/Asset Mgr community felt more sidelined; the magnitude of the buying flow today felt as strong enough to flip the earlier selling the desk digested earlier in the week. FIIs net bought +$1.5bn in SEC, +$2.5bn in Hynix which accounted for more 80% of the broader FII buying in KOSPI today. (ty Korea s/t) Also on the latest re: leverage ETFs, the minimum deposit requirement for single-stock leveraged ETF has risen to W30m ($21k) vs the current W10m ($7k), starting today.

For Japan, as was widely expected, BOJ decided to maintain its policy interest rate at 1% (by a majority vote). Our GS Japan economist continues to believe the BOJ will conduct gradual but steady rate hikes at intervals of around six months, and expect the next rate hike in January next year. This outlook is based on the assumption that the BOJ is not behind the curve and that the risk of underlying inflation exceeding 2% will not increase significantly. Lots of questions re: JPY move/suspected intervention. From the BOJ's funds demand/supply projection for Aug 3, our econ team estimates that authorities conducted a yen-buying fx intervention on July 30, in the order of Y7-8 trillion. The intervention in May was Y11tn, conducted over several days.

Also flagging a great note from our Japan strategist Burce Kirk: Trigger warnings - Lessons from the July- August 2024 sell-off. What began as a 'perfect storm' of yen positive factors in July 2024, was magnified by extended risk-on Japanese equities positioning, and ended up causing a -24% correction in TOPIX. In recent weeks, we have noted an increase in inbound inquiries about the possibility of a similar event taking place again. Our conclusion was even though the current macro environment is very different to the summer of 2024, equities positioning in AI-related names is extremely elevated, and has left the market very vulnerable to a momentum reversal.

Lastly, see our replay of Asia prime analytics & insight (done on 7/29 so before the rebound) – lots of good discussion & analytics on AI unwind.

Let me know how we can be helpful.

************************** From: Sean Low Sent: Friday, July 31, 2026 5:06 AM

To: Choi, Jessie [GBM Public] Subject: GS REGIONAL WRAP | 31 JULY 2026 W HATDR OVE MARK ETS? Asi a eq ui tie s clo sed sh arp l yh i ghe r to en d Ju l y, wi th th e M SC I Asi aP aci fi cInd e xp o stin gi tsb i gge sto ne -d ay gai n i n ne arl y fou r

GS REGIONAL WRAP | 31 JULY 2026

WHAT DROVE MARKETS? Asia equities closed sharply higher to end July, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index posting its biggest one- day gain in nearly four months as a powerful AI and semiconductor rebound swept the region following strong Microsoft and Amazon results. Korea was the standout, with the Kospi posting a record surge led by SK Hynix and Samsung, while Taiwan outperformed on TSMC and broader chip strength as margin debt continued to unwind. Japan's Nikkei recorded its biggest gain since May, driven by Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank, although yen stabilisation and the broader Topix's more diversified composition capped relative performance. Hong Kong underperformed, closing little changed as Alibaba strength was offset by Xiaomi's sharp decline following aggressive EV pricing, while mainland investors remained net sellers via Stock Connect for a seventh straight session. The CSI 300 edged higher on semiconductor and healthcare strength, Australia gained modestly on AI-linked materials, and India finished slightly higher as strong auto earnings offset IT profit-taking. Singapore was the only…