On the 24th, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes opened higher after U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight that he would delay an attack on Iran for five days and raised the possibility of talks.
As of 9:06 a.m. that day, the KOSPI was at 5,597.14, up 191.39 points (3.54%) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI opened at 5,638.20, up 4.30% from the previous trading day. In the main board, institutions and individuals were net buyers of 81.6 billion won and 67.1 billion won, respectively, while foreigners alone sold 160.0 billion won worth of shares.
Heavyweights across the market lit up red. SK hynix and SK Square surged more than 6%, and Doosan Enerbility was strong in the 5% range. Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution were also up more than 4%. Samsung Biologics (2.82%), Hanwha Aerospace (2.11%) and Kia (0.99%) were also on the rise.
The KOSDAQ was at 1,132.26 at the same time, up 35.37 points (3.22%) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ opened at 1,134.16, up 3.40% from the previous trading day.
In the KOSDAQ market, individuals alone were net buyers of 141.2 billion won, driving the index higher. Foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 94.0 billion won and 42.3 billion won, respectively.
Top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks also rose across the board. Sam Chun Dang Pharm jumped 8.29%, LigaChem Biosciences 7.98%, and EcoPro, EcoPro BM and ABL Bio were strong in the 5% range. Alteogen (3.33%), LEENO Industrial (3.20%), Peptron (2.89%) and Rainbow Robotics (2.69%) also gained.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won-dollar exchange rate against the U.S. dollar opened at 1,490 won, down 26.4 won from the previous trading day.
Meanwhile, on the 23rd (local time), New York stocks ended higher after U.S. President Trump claimed he had a productive conversation with Iran to resolve the Middle East war and held off a previously signaled attack on Iranian power plants.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 46,208.47, up 1.38% from the previous trading day. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 1.15% to 6,581.00, and the Nasdaq composite added 1.38% to 21,946.76.
President Trump said on social media that day that the United States and Iran had "very good and productive conversations toward a complete and comprehensive resolution of hostilities." Expectations for an early end to the conflict grew, and investor sentiment improved.