Kospi surges past 8,300 as Iran ceasefire hopes lift Samsung, SK Hynix

By Jung Yoon-hee, The Herald Business

The Kospi blew past the 8,000-point threshold the moment trading began Friday, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surging 8 to 9 percent and reclaiming the psychologically significant levels of 320,000 won (about $230) and 2.2 million won, respectively.

The rally was driven by optimism that geopolitical risks could ease after US President Donald Trump said overnight that a ceasefire agreement with Iran was imminent.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi stood at 8,361.85 as of 9:20 a.m. Friday, up 597.90 points, or 7.70 percent, from the previous session. The index had already reclaimed the 8,000 level at the open, starting the day at 8,263.85 — a gain of 499.90 points, or 6.44 percent.

The sharp advance triggered a buy-side sidecar — a temporary suspension of program buy orders on the main bourse. It was the 13th such activation this year.

Korea Exchange triggered the sidecar at 9:06:02 a.m. At that moment, the KOSPI 200 futures index stood at 1,332.00, up 95.95 points, or 7.76 percent, from the previous close. The Kospi sidecar activates when KOSPI 200 futures prices rise more than 5 percent above the reference price for at least one minute, suspending program buy orders for five minutes.

Large-cap semiconductor stocks led the advance. Samsung Electronics traded at 334,000 won, up 35,000 won, or 11.7 percent, while SK Hynix rose 71,000 won, or 8.1 percent, to 2,272,000 won.

Top market-capitalization stocks rose across the board. SK Square gained 9.4 percent, Samsung Electronics preferred shares 10.0 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics 9.9 percent. Hyundai Motor rose 5.3 percent, LG Energy Solution 5.5 percent, Samsung Life 8.4 percent, Samsung C&T 10.2 percent, HD Hyundai Heavy 4.8 percent and Kia 4.1 percent.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.86 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.75 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.54 percent.

The rally followed Trump's post on his Truth Social platform saying that talks with Iran had been approved by the country's supreme leadership and that he had called off planned airstrikes and bombing runs against Iran scheduled for Friday evening.

Semiconductor stocks were particularly strong, leading the broader index higher. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged roughly 8 percent, its biggest single-day gain in a year.

Oil prices tumbled. Brent crude futures for August delivery settled down 2.92 percent at $90.38 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures for July delivery fell 2.58 percent to $87.71.

The Kosdaq also recovered the 1,000-point level, rising 31.66 points, or 3.18 percent, to 1,028.59 at the same time.