The KOSPI turned lower immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump began his address. As Trump laid out a plan to "strike Iran hard within 2–3 weeks" and threatened to "return Iran to the Stone Age," investor sentiment tightened again.

As of 10:30 a.m. on the 2nd, the KOSPI was down around 2%, trading weak near 5,360 points. The KOSPI opened up 1.33% that day, but its gains narrowed in the morning and it turned lower.

On the morning of the 2nd in Jung District, Seoul, a broadcast of U.S. President Trump's national address on the Middle East war is shown on the electronic board at the Hana Bank dealing room./Courtesy of News1

Until early in the session, appetite for risk assets appeared to be reviving. U.S. stocks rose the previous day, and relatively solid employment data were released.

But the mood shifted after Trump began his address. Trump said, "The completion of the core objectives of the Iran war is near," while also saying, "We will strike Iran extremely hard over the next 2–3 weeks." He also said, "We will send Iran back to the Stone Age." It was a threat to devastate Iran through a high-intensity military operation.

There were also remarks that negotiations with Iran are underway, but investors focused more on the lack of a clear message to end the war. Foreign media assessed that there was "nothing new" in Trump's roughly 19-minute address, but optimism that the Iran war would soon conclude quickly faded.

The KOSDAQ is also plunging. The KOSDAQ likewise fell more than 2%, dropping below 1,100 points.

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