The Korea Exchange plans to investigate the Seoul branch of Morgan Stanley for placing a sell order of approximately 1.01 million shares of SK hynix on September 13, just two days before the investment bank released a report downgrading its rating on the chipmaker, according to a source cited by Yohnap on Friday.
On Sunday, Morgan Stanley published a report that slashed its target price for SK hynix shares from 260,000 won ($195.30) to 120,000 won ($90.10) and downgraded its rating on the chipmaker, citing a gloomier outlook for memory chips.
Due to the Chuseok holiday, South Korea's stock market was closed from Monday to Wednesday. As a result of the report, shares of SK hynix plummeted more than 10% on Thursday morning. If any irregularities are uncovered during the investigation, the bourse operator will refer the case to the Financial Supervisory Service, the nation's financial regulator.
