KOSPI Adjustment Phase: Pension Fund Shifts from Semiconductors to Biotech

Institutional money makes a dramatic sector pivot as markets wobble.

The Rotation Game

South Korea's massive pension fund executed a strategic repositioning today—dumping semiconductor holdings and loading up on biotech stocks. The move comes as KOSPI enters what analysts are calling a 'technical adjustment period' after recent volatility.

Smart Money or Herd Mentality?

While the pension fund's massive AUM gives it market-moving power, the timing raises eyebrows. Shifting billions between sectors during a correction either demonstrates brilliant foresight or classic institutional groupthink. Either way, retail investors get to watch the whales play musical chairs with their retirement money.

The semiconductor sector—long the darling of Korean markets—suddenly finds itself on the wrong side of institutional sentiment. Meanwhile, biotech stocks enjoy unexpected inflows that could either signal genuine sector rotation or temporary safe-haven positioning.

Because nothing says 'strategic allocation' like chasing yesterday's winners and tomorrow's regulatory headaches.

Key Takeaways

• An energy technology firm got a boost from an overseas sale on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, while a regulatory decision weighed on a New England utility company.
• Shares of GE Vernova powered higher after the company signed its first wind repower agreement outside the U.S.
• Regulators in Connecticut voted to block Eversource Energy's sale of its water subsidiary, and shares of the utility company dropped.

An energy technology firm announced its first-ever international wind repower upgrade deal, and its shares moved higher. Meanwhile, a regulatory commission voted against a utility's plan to offload its water subsidiary, and shares of the company dropped.

Major U.S. equities indexes ticked higher Wednesday as investors awaited the afternoon's earnings release by semiconductor giant, and the world's most valuable company, Nvidia (NVDA). The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.6%. See here for Investopedia's full daily market summary. 

Shares of GE Vernova (GEV), the energy technology company spun off from GE in April 2024, surged 7.3% after the company announced its first wind repower upgrade agreement outside the U.S. Under the deal, GE Vernova will provide 25 wind repower upgrade kits, used to modernize and extend the operational life of aging wind turbines, to Taiwan Power Company.

Constellation Energy (CEG) shares jumped 5.3% after the Department of Energy said it had provided a $1 billion loan to fund the utility company's plan to restart a decommissioned nuclear reactor at the Pennsylvania site formerly known as Three Mile Island. Constellation entered a deal last year with Microsoft (MSFT) to resume operations at the nuclear facility to help power the software giant's energy-intensive data centers.

Lowe’s Companies (LOW) reported better-than-expected adjusted profit for the third quarter, and shares of the home improvement retailer climbed 4%. The company highlighted an increase in online sales, strength in its business with professional contractors, and growth in "home services," a program that connects customers with licensed professionals for help with installation and remodeling projects. The strong report from Lowe's came a day after rival Home Depot (HD) missed quarterly earnings forecasts and cut its outlook, citing headwinds related to economic uncertainty and the housing market.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) gained 2.8% to close at an all-time high after the tech giant launched Gemini 3, its latest artificial intelligence model. Several analysts praised the newest version, saying it competes with state-of-the-art models from competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic. Wednesday's move into record territory followed gains earlier in the week after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) disclosed a stake in Alphabet.

Eversource Energy (ES) stock dropped 12.5%, losing the most of any stock in the S&P 500, after regulators in Connecticut rejected the utility company's proposed sale of its Aquarion Water subsidiary to a newly created quasi-public entity for $2.4 billion. The state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority voted unanimously to block the transaction, determining that it failed to meet the proper standards for managerial sustainability.

A pair of agricultural giants came under pressure following reports that the TRUMP administration may delay proposed cuts to incentives for biofuel imports. Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Bunge (BG), which process commodities like corn and soybeans into biofuel, slipped 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively.