Samsung Electronics completed its previously announced share-repurchase target ahead of schedule, buying 53.8 million shares for 14.1565 trillion won ($10 billion) and reaching a cumulative buyback rate of 100.96%. The company applied to purchase a further 2 million shares and is understood to plan continued repurchases until spending reaches 15 trillion won, enough for roughly 3 million additional shares. SK hynix has bought 18.35 million shares since Aug. 20, or 76.24% of its 24.07 million-share target, spending 32.0514 trillion won. At its current pace, the remaining 5.72 million shares would take eight to nine trading sessions, moving completion forward from the originally scheduled Nov. 19 by about a month. Analysts say the accelerated programs have eased pressure on the KOSPI (South Korea's benchmark stock index) despite higher interest rates, although some investors are concerned that faster-than-expected completion could create a supply-demand vacuum in the country's two largest stocks by market capitalization. Brokerages said sentiment toward semiconductors could improve after Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter earnings release scheduled for next week, potentially encouraging foreign investors to return. Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said microeconomic drivers including artificial intelligence, semiconductor conditions and earnings were gradually gaining influence over macro factors such as oil prices, interest rates and monetary policy. Lee said Samsung's earnings guidance was highly likely to meet or exceed reduced expectations and that renewed upward profit revisions could help the KOSPI break through and hold above 7,000 alongside a recovery in semiconductor leadership.