On the 1st, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes jumped at the open as hopes resurfaced overnight that the Middle East war could end.
As of 9:05 a.m., the KOSPI was at 5,293.83, up 241.37 points (4.78%) from the previous session. The KOSPI opened at 5,330.04, up 5.49% from the previous session. In the main board, institutions were net buyers of 286.5 billion won, while individuals and foreigners were selling 284.7 billion won and 25.5 billion won, respectively.
Large-cap stocks across the board flashed red. SK hynix and SK Square were strong with gains in the 8% range, and Samsung Electronics (7.00%), Doosan Enerbility (5.56%), Hyundai Motor (5.39%), Kia (4.13%), Hanwha Aerospace (3.44%), LG Energy Solution (2.79%), and Samsung Biologics (2.79%) were also rising.
The KOSDAQ was at 1,090.05 at the same time, up 37.66 points (3.58%) from the previous session. The KOSDAQ opened at 1,090.36, up 3.61% from the previous session.
In the KOSDAQ market, individuals and institutions were buying 51.2 billion won and 18.9 billion won of stocks, respectively. Only foreigners were net sellers, at 74.7 billion won.
Among top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks, all rose except Sam Chun Dang Pharm, which plunged 6%. Kolon TissueGene surged more than 6%, and EcoPro, Rainbow Robotics, ABL Bio, and LEENO Industrial were strong with gains in the 5% range. LigaChem Biosciences (4.69%), EcoPro BM (3.75%), Alteogen (3.51%), and HLB (3.36%) were also climbing.
On this day, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar rate started trading at 1,508.5 won per U.S. dollar, down 21.6 won from the previous session.
Meanwhile, on the 31st (local time), New York stocks ended higher on expectations that the war would enter its final phase after the United States and Iran expressed willingness to end hostilities. U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that cease-fire talks with Iran were going well, and the Iranian president also said the country was ready to end the war if there were no further attacks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 46,341.51, up 2.49% from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 2.91% to 6,528.52, and the Nasdaq gained 3.83% to 21,590.63. In particular, buying concentrated in tech shares, sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 6.24%.