KOSPI Surges 5% on US-Iran Peace Deal

On the 15th, as news broke that the United States and Iran had reached a peace agreement, South Korea's stock market index, the KOSPI, closed with a substantial gain of over 5%. This surge reflects growing expectations for a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, intensifying interest in whether the KOSPI can break through the 9,000-point mark. According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI closed at 8545.98, up 422.36 points (5.20%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 8526.12, an increase of 402.50 points (4.95%) from the prior session, and further expanded its gains during the day.

Following a sharp rise in the KOSPI 200 futures index, a "buy-side circuit breaker" was activated on the Korea Exchange's main board at 9:06 AM. This marked the second consecutive day a buy-side circuit breaker was triggered on the KOSPI market, following a similar event on the 12th. The news of a US-Iran truce agreement boosted investor appetite for riskier assets, with the buy-side circuit breaker being invoked for the 14th time this year amid the steep rally.

A broad rally was observed across various sectors. In terms of trading volume, synchronized buying from foreign and institutional investors drove the index's ascent. Foreign investors net-bought 1.0118 trillion won worth of stocks, while institutions net-bought 546 billion won, leading the market's strong performance. Retail investors, conversely, net-sold 1.4944 trillion won.

Early on the 15th, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the conclusion of the peace negotiations with Iran via Truth Social. President Trump stated, "An agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran has now been finalized," adding, "I fully approve of the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz." This news was reflected in the domestic stock market, contributing to its bullish trend.

The KOSDAQ index also showed an overall upward movement. The KOSDAQ closed at 1034.03, up 4.98 points (0.48%) from the previous trading day. Although the index opened higher at 1048.19, up 19.14 points (1.86%) from the previous session, it relinquished some of its intraday gains to close in the 1030-point range. In the KOSDAQ market, retail and institutional investors net-bought 616.6 billion won and 216.3 billion won respectively. Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 806.4 billion won.