KOSPI Surpasses 5800 Mark Following Trump's Remarks
Following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he would suspend military strikes against Iran for two weeks, the domestic stock market surged on the 8th, with the KOSPI index surpassing the 5800 mark. This is interpreted as a result of improved investor sentiment due to expectations of eased international geopolitical risks. The KOSPI opened at 5804.7, up 5.64% for the day, and further expanded its gains to reach 5837.35, up 6.23%, as of 9:03 AM. As the sharp rise continued, the Korea Exchange activated a "sidecar," a temporary suspension of program buy orders, at 9:06:02 AM. A sidecar is a market stabilization measure triggered when the price of KOSPI200 futures rises more than 5% from its reference price and persists for one minute.
The direct trigger for this surge was an announcement made by President Trump around 7:30 AM Korean time. He stated, "I agree to a two-week halt on bombing and attacking Iran, provided that Iran agrees to the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz." Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, acting as a mediator, also urged all parties to a two-week comprehensive ceasefire and requested Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Large-cap stocks, including semiconductors and automobiles, showed a general strong performance. SK Hynix surged 9.5% to trade at 1,003,000 won, Samsung Electronics rose 6.62% to 209,500 won, and Hyundai Motor increased 4.97% to 496,500 won. In contrast, defense stock Hanwha Aerospace fell 3.38%.
In terms of trading volume, both foreign and institutional investors showed net buying. On the KOSPI market, foreigners net bought 569.5 billion won and institutions net bought 353.1 billion won, while retail investors net sold 907.5 billion won. The dollar-won exchange rate also saw a significant drop, opening down 24.3 won at 1,479.9, accompanying a strengthening of the Korean won.
New York stocks closed mixed: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18% to 46,584.46, the S&P 500 rose 0.08% to 6,616.85, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1% to 20,017.85.
The KOSDAQ also continued its strong performance, opening up 4.61% at 1084.57. Companies like secondary battery makers EcoPro (4.35%) and EcoPro BM (2.98%), robot stock Rainbow Robotics (6.24%), semiconductor firm Leeno Industrial (5.38%), and pharmaceutical/biotech stocks Alteogen (5.65%) and Peptron (5.94%) all saw gains. However, Sam Chun Dang Pharm fell sharply by 10.89% to trade at 462,500 won.