The KOSPI opened strong on Friday, surging over 1%. This uptick is largely attributed to Israel’s announcement of restraint in its actions against Lebanon, which has eased tensions surrounding the U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations.
As of 9:17 a.m. (Korean time) on Friday, the KOSPI climbed 104.55 points (1.81%) to reach 5,882.56.
Individual investors were net buyers, purchasing 146.1 billion KRW (about 98.7 million USD) worth of stocks. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers, offloading 34.4 billion KRW (about 23.2 million USD) and 128.9 billion KRW (about 87 million USD), respectively.
Among the top 10 KOSPI stocks by market cap, SK Square jumped 3.93%, SK Hynix rose 3.41%, KB Financial gained 2.92%, and Hanwha Aerospace increased 2.07%. Samsung Electronics and its preferred stock climbed 1.84% and 1.74%, respectively. Hyundai Motor and Samsung Biologics also saw gains of 0.72% and 0.63%. LG Energy Solution was the only decliner, dropping 0.36%.
Overnight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of negotiations with Lebanon helped alleviate some concerns about the U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks. While the U.S. and Iran are set to begin face-to-face negotiations in Islamabad on April 11, Israel’s ongoing airstrikes on Lebanon have added an element of uncertainty to the situation.
This news positively impacted U.S. markets, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all closing higher, up 0.58%, 0.62%, and 0.83%, respectively.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures briefly topped 100 USD per barrel before settling at 97.87 USD. In Seoul’s forex market, the USD-KRW exchange rate opened at 1,475.1 KRW (about 1 USD), down 7.4 KRW (about 0.005 USD) from the previous day’s close.
The KOSDAQ index also showed strength, rising 9.66 points (0.90%) to 1,085.66.
On the KOSDAQ, individual investors were net buyers, purchasing 35.4 billion KRW (about 23.9 million USD) worth of stocks. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers, offloading 4.4 billion KRW (about 3 million USD) and 30.1 billion KRW (about 20.3 million USD), respectively.
Among the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market cap, Rainbow Robotics and EcoPro saw gains of 2.25% and 0.34%, respectively. However, several stocks declined, including Samchundang Pharm (-3.17%), Kolon TissueGene (-2.61%), Lino Industry (-2.08%), HLB (-0.89%), Alteogen (-0.88%), Rigakem Bio (-0.55%), EcoPro BM (-0.24%), and ABL Bio (-0.13%).
Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, predicts that the KOSPI will attempt to break the 5,900 mark. This optimism is fueled by the easing tensions between Israel and Lebanon, positive expectations for U.S.-Iran negotiations, strong performance in U.S. semiconductor stocks, and a 2.1% rise in KOSPI night futures.