As messages for ending the war emerged from Iran following the United States, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes surged across the board on Apr. 1, the first trading day of April. Expectations that the Iran war will wrap up boosted investor sentiment. A buy-sidecar (temporary halt of program-trading quote effectiveness) was triggered during trading in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets. In particular, large-cap semiconductor stocks, ranked No. 1–2 by market capitalization, jumped more than 10%, driving the index higher.
Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump said "the end point for military operations against Iran is within 2–3 weeks." Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian also said there is a willingness to end the conflict on the condition that essential items such as preventing a recurrence of aggression are met.
As expectations for an end to the war grew, stocks soared and the won also rebounded. The won-dollar exchange rate, which topped the 1,530-won level the previous day, fell to the low 1,500-won level on the day, showing signs of calming.
The KOSPI index rose 426.24 points, or 8.44%, from the previous trading day to finish at 5,478.70. As funds flocked into index futures early in the session, a buy-sidecar was triggered, and in the afternoon the index even spiked to 5,512.33.
What led the index higher was demand from financial investment (institutions), where exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows are tallied. In the main board, financial investment recorded a net buy of 3.7030 trillion won. Individuals and foreign investors posted net sales of 4.1302 trillion won and 670.8 billion won, respectively.
Most issues on the main board—840 in total—closed higher, and three stocks, including LIG Nex1 and Inscobee, hit the upper limit (the top of the daily price band). Only 10 and 71 stocks were flat or lower, respectively.
Gains were particularly strong among large-cap stocks by market capitalization. Samsung Electronics rose 13.40% and SK hynix 10.66%, while Hyundai Motor (9.54%), SK Square (7.40%), Doosan Enerbility (8.50%), Kia (6.96%), Hanwha Aerospace (6.73%), Samsung Biologics (4.52%), and LG Energy Solution (3.17%) were also firm.
The KOSDAQ index rose 63.79 points, or 6.06%, from the previous trading day to close at 12,116.18. Eight KOSDAQ stocks hit the upper limit, 1,553 closed higher, and only 199 were flat or lower in total.
In the KOSDAQ market, institutions and foreigners were net buyers of 460.5 billion won and 445.1 billion won, respectively. Only individuals recorded net sales totaling 902.2 billion won.
Most top KOSDAQ market-cap names also flashed red. LEENO Industrial surged more than 10%, while ABL Bio (8.50%), Rainbow Robotics (7.68%), LigaChem Biosciences (7.03%), EcoPro (6.88%), Alteogen (5.42%), EcoPro BM (5.10%), Peptron (4.94%), and Kolon TissueGene (1.69%) rose.
By contrast, Sam Chun Dang Pharm plunged more than 10%, falling from No. 1 to No. 4 in KOSDAQ market cap in a single day. The impact was largely due to the license deal for copycat versions of "Wegovy" and "Rybelsus" with its U.S. partner, released on Mar. 30, which fell short of market expectations.
Kang Jin-hyeok, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said "as early end-of-war hopes between the United States and Iran flowed in, risk-on sentiment grew across the stock market," adding, "in KOSDAQ, large caps were strong on foreign net buying inflows."