▲ As the KOSPI spiked in early trading and briefly touched the 5,700 mark, a dealer works on the morning of the 5th at the Hana Bank headquarters dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul.
After two straight days of steep losses, the KOSPI roared back this morning (the 5th), reclaiming the 5,680 level in early trade.
As of 9:27 a.m., the KOSPI was at 5,689.83, up 596.29 points (11.71%) from the previous session.
Yesterday, the index plunged 698.37 points (12.06%) on news of war breaking out between the United States and Iran―its biggest drop ever in both points and percentage terms.
That followed a 452.22-point (7.24%) slide on the 3rd, totaling a two-day loss of 1,150.59 points (19.3%). Today, it’s sharply rebounding.
The index opened at 5,250.92, up 157.38 points (3.09%), and has been extending gains since.
Right after the open, a surge in KOSPI 200 futures triggered a sidecar―a temporary halt on program buy orders.
Yesterday, a sell-side sidecar was activated as the KOSPI sank.
The won-dollar exchange rate, which jumped yesterday, also eased today.
In Seoul’s FX market, the won opened at 1,464.0 per dollar, down 12.2 won from the previous day.
On the main board, foreign investors and retail buyers net purchased 596.3 billion won and 267.3 billion won, respectively, lifting the index, while institutions were net sellers of 802.1 billion won.
Foreign investors turned net buyers late yesterday for the first time in 10 sessions despite the rout, and they’re continuing to buy today.
However, foreigners were net sellers of 343.8 billion won in KOSPI 200 futures.
Overnight, Wall Street rallied across the board as U.S. measures to stabilize oil prices cooled the crude market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.78% and 1.29%, respectively.
Hopes that the war could end sooner than expected also spread after reports said Iran’s intelligence authorities, via a third country, proposed talks to the CIA to end the conflict.
Among tech names, Nvidia (1.66%) and Micron Technology (5.55%) advanced, lifting the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by 1.93%.
The U.S. rebound is adding upward pressure to Korean stocks.
With Korea’s market having fallen harder than major peers over the last two sessions, bargain hunting is pouring in.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, “Given the KOSPI’s sharp two-day drop after the Middle East crisis, most of the war risk appears to have been priced in quickly,” adding, “Today, the domestic market is likely to rebound led by names that fell the most.”
Among heavyweights, Samsung Electronics―down more than 11% yesterday―rebounded 13.24% to reclaim the 190,000 won level, while SK hynix jumped 15.31% to the 970,000 won range after a 9% slide yesterday.
Automakers Hyundai Motor (13.77%) and Kia (8.04%) were also up, alongside LG Energy Solution (8.63%), Samsung Biologics (5.80%), and Hanwha Aerospace (1.44%).
Except for Pan Ocean (-0.19%), every stock within the KOSPI top 200 by market cap was higher.
By sector, all groups were in the green, including Securities (14.51%), Electrical & Electronics (13.09%), and Construction (11.69%).
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was at 1,089.12, up 110.68 points (11.31%) from the previous session.
It opened at 1,023.84, up 45.40 points (4.64%), and extended gains.
In the KOSDAQ, a sidecar―temporarily halting program buy orders―was also triggered at one point amid the surge.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ This article has been translated by AI.