Foreign investors swung to large-scale net purchases Friday, ending a 24-session selling streak and pushing the Kospi back above the 8,000 mark.
The index surged as much as 8 percent during trading, briefly breaking through the 8,400 level.
Investor sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump signaled progress in cease-fire negotiations, prompting simultaneous buying by foreign investors and institutional players that drove the index sharply higher.
According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi opened up 499.90 points, or 6.44 percent, at 8,263.85 and soared as high as 8,434.40 — a gain of 8.63 percent — during the session. As of 1:47 p.m., it was trading up 8.61 percent at 8,432.72.
A sidecar — a temporary halt on program buy orders — was triggered early in the session. It was the second sidecar activation on the Kospi since June 10, and the third buy-side activation since June 9, marking the 13th such halt this year. The Kospi sidecar has gone off on every trading day this week except Thursday.
Foreign investors, who had been net sellers for 24 consecutive sessions through Thursday, flipped to net buyers, posting net purchases of 2.5996 trillion won (approximately $1.7 billion) in the main market over the same period.
South Korea's two leading semiconductor stocks also surged. Samsung Electronics climbed 12.37 percent to 336,000 won, reclaiming the 300,000-won threshold. SK Hynix rose 9.14 percent to 2,294,000 won. However, the fear index remained relatively elevated, still holding above the 80 level.
th5@heraldcorp.com
