Covid-19 resurgence pushes up diagnostic kit stocks

[Photo by Yonhap]

The stocks of South Korean diagnostic kit companies soared on Friday morning as Covid-19 levels show signs of rising.

Shares of Sugentech Inc., were trading at 7,830 won ($5.7) as of 11:12 a.m. on Friday, up 26.09 percent from the previous day.

Sugentech produces self-diagnostic kits for Covid-19 among other products.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the number of new Covid-19 hospitalizations increased from 91 in the first week of July to 148 in the second week, 225 in the third week, and 465 in the fourth week, showing a 5.1-fold increase over the past four weeks.

Other diagnostic kit-related stocks showed an upward trend – Humasis Co. gained 9.14 percent, LabGenomics Co. 19.85 percent, and Seegene Inc. 10.8 percent.

The detection rate of KP.3, the omicron variant of the virus that causes the latest outbreak in Korea, jumped from 12.1 percent in June to 39.8 percent in July.

Meanwhile, SK hynix Inc. saw its shares fall by more than 8 percent on Friday as big tech stocks plunged on the New York Stock Exchange overnight.

As of 11:14 a.m., SK hynix shares were trading at 177,000 won, down 8.43 percent from the previous day.

Samsung Electronics Co. shares also went down 3.13 percent to 80,500 won.

Semiconductor stocks in the New York stock market fell collectively the previous day, with Nvidia Corp. down 6.67 percent, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) 8.26 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) 4.6 percent, Qualcomm Inc. 9.37 percent, ASML Holdings N.V. 5.66 percent, Micron Technology Inc. 7.57 percent, and Broadcom Inc. 8.5 percent.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also plummeted by 7.14 percent.

This decline was attributed to concerns about an economic recession after the U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported the July Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) at 46.8, below the benchmark of 50.

Oil-related stocks, in the meantime, rose in the aftermath of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the supreme leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Iran, which heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East

As of 11:17 a.m., shares of Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) were trading at 22,700 won, up 12.38 percent from the previous day, while those of Hung -Gu Oil Ltd. rose 4.45 percent to 19,030 won, Joong Ang Enervis Co. 3.97 percent to 23,500 won, and S-Oil Corp. 0.59 percent to 68,400 won.

International oil prices, which had surged after the killing of Haniyeh, have been on a declining trend due to the outlook for reduced oil demand caused by an economic recession.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil was at $76.87 per barrel and Brent crude oil at $80.04 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday (local time).