Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Seoul stocks rally on Trump's 90-day tariff delay
An electronic signboard at Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 2,445.06 points, Thursday, up 151.36 points, or 6.6 percent, from the previous session. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Local currency rises 27.7 won against dollar to close at 1,456.4 won
Korean stocks rallied at the steepest pace in more than five years, Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump declared an immediate 90-day tariff pause for U.S. trading partners, including Korea.
The benchmark KOSPI went up 151.36 points, or 6.6 percent, to close at 2,445.06 points — a massive turnaround after it fell below 2,300 points to a 17-month low Wednesday. It also marked the biggest daily gain since March 24, 2020, when the index rose 8.6 percent.
The secondary bourse Kosdaq gained 38.40 points, or 5.97 percent, to finish at 681.79 points, after declining below the 650 point to a 16-month low.
On the daytime trading market on Thursday, Korean currency also strengthened by 27.7 won against the U.S. dollar to close at 1,456.4 won per dollar, after weakening to the lowest level in 16 years a day earlier.
The sharp turnarounds at the financial markets came as Trump said Wednesday (local time) that he will temporarily lower the hefty duties he had imposed on dozens of countries, except for China, for 90 days.
The announcement was made less than 24 hours after hostile tariff rates took effect, including a 25 percent duty on Korea, in Trump’s widening global trade war.
The pace of Seoul shares’ increase was volitile enough to trigger a sidecar trading curb at one point on both KOSPI and Kosdaq.
A sidecar trading curb is activated when there are sharp gains or losses of more than 5 percent in the futures market.
It was triggered at 9:06 a.m. on the KOSPI, halting the buying of shares for five minutes after the KOSPI 200 Futures Index jumped 5.76 percent.
The five-minute trading halt kicked in on the Kosdaq at 10:46 a.m., after Kosdaq 150 Futures Index soared 6.08 percent and Kosdaq 150 Index shot up 5.83 percent.
It was the first time for the curb on purchase of stocks to take effect since Aug. 5, 2024.
After going on a selling spree for days, foreign investors net purchased 328.6 billion won ($225.3 million) and institutional investors net purchased 678.7 billion won.
Of the large caps on the KOSPI, market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 6.42 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix climbed 11.03 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution surged 11.31 percent. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 5.06 percent and its sister company Kia jumped 5.25 percent.
Major shipbuilders HD Hyundai Heavy and Hanwha Ocean climbed 10.39 percent and 6.56 percent, respectively.
Top container shipper HMM increased 8.03 percent. Two IT giants, Naver and Kakao, gained 3.96 percent and 7.67 percent, respectively.
Asked whether investor sentiment will improve over Trump’s tariff pause, KB Kookmin Bank researcher Lee Min-hyuk said, “It remains uncertain.”
“Trump’s policy remains uncreditable, and moreover, the heightened U.S.-China trade conflict continues to pose a threat to the closely connected global trade network,” he said, referring to Trump increasing duties on China to 125 percent in an exceptional measure, Wednesday.