KOSPI Reclaims 5,600 as Middle East Risk Eases; KOSDAQ Also Surges 3%

The KOSPI index is surging more than 3% as investor sentiment recovers after U.S. President Donald Trump shelved his "48-hour ultimatum" to Iran and delayed airstrikes by five days.

As of 9:13 a.m. on the 24th, the KOSPI stood at 5,600.73, up 194.98 points (3.61%) from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). The index opened at 5,638.20, up 232.45 points (4.30%) from the previous close, before paring some gains to trade sideways around the 5,600-point level.

By investor type, retail investors are single-handedly lifting the index with net purchases of 221.9 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors are net sellers of 198.4 billion won and 31.3 billion won, respectively. Retail investors have maintained a buying stance for four consecutive trading days, while foreigners and institutions have been net sellers for four straight sessions.

Large-cap stocks are rallying across the board. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) rose 3.06% and 5.79%, respectively, reclaiming the symbolic "190,000-won Samsung" and "980,000-won hynix" thresholds. Other gainers include Samsung Electronics preferred shares (005935.KS, +3.51%), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS, +3.30%), LG Energy Solution (373220.KS, +5.76%), SK Square (402340.KS, +5.75%), Samsung Biologics (207940.KS, +2.04%), Hanwha Aerospace (012450.KS, +2.03%), and Doosan Enerbility (034020.KS, +3.08%). Kia (000270.KS) was a lone laggard, falling 1.55%.

The rally is attributed to overnight news that President Trump held productive talks with Iran to resolve the Middle East conflict and signaled that dialogue would continue this week. International oil prices plunged roughly 10% in response, and all three major U.S. indexes closed higher in New York. The S&P 500 finished up 1.15% at 6,581.00. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.38% to 21,946.76, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.38% to 46,208.47.

"In the first week of this month, the KOSPI plunged roughly 20% in just two trading days, preemptively pricing in war risk, and has since been building a floor," said Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities (039490.KS). "Today, the domestic market is set to recover the previous session's steep losses, supported by easing geopolitical and macro burdens including a sharp drop in oil prices and falling interest rates driven by expectations for U.S.-Iran negotiations."

Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ is also posting strong gains of over 3%, trading at 1,131.88, up 34.99 points (3.19%) from the previous session. As with the KOSPI, retail investors are buying alone with net purchases of 104.9 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors are net sellers of 23.1 billion won and 71.7 billion won, respectively.