Kospi stages late comeback; Kosdaq surges nearly 5%

The Kospi held the 7,700 line Thursday, recovering its losses in the final stretch of trading despite geopolitical tensions from the Middle East and the added pressure of a simultaneous futures and options expiry day. The index briefly fell below 7,400 in early trading, shedding more than 4 percent, before strong semiconductor export data and a recovery in large-cap chip stocks helped it claw back to close slightly higher.

The Kosdaq surged more than 4 percent, driven by heavy buying in semiconductor materials, parts and equipment stocks. The index climbed as high as 997 during the session, coming within striking distance of the psychologically significant 1,000 mark — a level traders call "Cheon-sdaq" — before a buy-side sidecar was triggered in the afternoon.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed at 7,763.95, up 33.13 points, or 0.43 percent, from the previous session. The index opened down 221.20 points, or 2.86 percent, at 7,509.62, and extended its decline to as low as 7,394.46 — a drop of more than 4 percent — in early trading. It subsequently pared losses and briefly reclaimed the 7,800 line before oscillating between gains and losses and ultimately settling modestly higher.

Individual investors were net buyers of 2.2957 trillion won (approximately $1.51 billion) on the Kospi. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 1.8230 trillion won and 671.9 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors extended their net selling streak to 10 consecutive sessions.

Markets opened with heightened volatility as fears of an escalating conflict in the Middle East coincided with the simultaneous expiry of futures and options contracts. Sentiment partially recovered after data showed semiconductor exports from June 1 to Monday hit a record high for that period. A narrowing of losses — and in some cases a reversal to gains — among large-cap semiconductor stocks also helped support the index.

Among the top Kospi stocks by market cap, SK Hynix fell more than 4 percent during the session before closing up 2.59 percent. SK Square, which tracks SK Hynix's equity value, also rose 3.8 percent. Samsung Electronics dropped nearly 5 percent in early trading but trimmed its losses to close down 1.16 percent. HD Hyundai Heavy gained 0.78 percent and Samsung C&T rose 0.61 percent. On the downside, Kia fell 2.32 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 0.83 percent, Samsung Life slipped 0.82 percent and LG Energy Solution edged down 0.26 percent.

The Kosdaq closed at 996.93, up 45.30 points, or 4.76 percent, from the previous session. The index opened down 14.46 points, or 1.52 percent, at 937.17, but turned positive during the morning session and accelerated its gains, reaching an intraday high of 997.11 — just 3.07 points short of the 1,000 mark.

Institutional investors led the Kosdaq's advance with net purchases of 703.3 billion won. Individual and foreign investors were net sellers of 376.1 billion won and 327.6 billion won, respectively.

Semiconductor materials, parts and equipment stocks drove the Kosdaq's rally. Jusung Engineering surged 23.37 percent, while Simtech, Wonik IPS, EO Technics and Lino Industrial rose 21.74 percent, 20.82 percent, 15.07 percent and 7.31 percent, respectively.

Among the top Kosdaq stocks by market cap, Alteogen posted a double-digit gain of 10.16 percent. Kolon TissueGene, EcoPro and Rainbow Robotics rose 3.21 percent, 2.74 percent and 1.17 percent, respectively. HLB fell 2.27 percent and EcoPro BM edged down 0.12 percent.

As the Kosdaq extended its gains in the afternoon, a temporary suspension of program buy orders — known as a buy-side sidecar — was triggered around 2 p.m. It was the second such activation in two days, following one on Tuesday. The mechanism engaged after the Kosdaq 150 futures price and the Kosdaq 150 index both surged beyond the required threshold for a sustained period.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won closed the weekly session at 1,528.9 won per dollar, weakening 4.7 won from the previous trading day.