A warm breeze from the U.S.-Iran end-of-war agreement spread to the domestic stock market after lifting New York stocks. On the 16th, the KOSPI closed up 2.11% from the previous session on the back of simultaneous buying by foreigners and institutions. In contrast, the KOSDAQ fell on selling by foreigners and institutions, barely holding the 1,000 level.
The KOSPI closed the day at 8,726.60, up 180.62 points (2.11%) from the previous session. The index opened at 8,696.55, up 150.57 points (1.76%) from the previous session, slipped slightly early on, then expanded gains and held an advance of more than 2%.
In the main board, foreigners and institutions were net buyers of 1.5394 trillion won and 846.9 billion won, respectively, leading the index higher. Their combined net purchases totaled 2.3863 trillion won. Individuals, on the other hand, were net sellers of 2.3296 trillion won.
The KOSDAQ index closed the day at 1,018.68, down 15.35 points (1.48%) from the previous session. Starting at 1,039.00, up 4.97 points (0.48%) from the previous session, the KOSDAQ turned lower early in the session and finished with deeper losses.
On the KOSDAQ, the trend was the opposite of the main board, with foreigners and institutions net sellers. Foreigners and institutions unloaded 397.7 billion won and 467.4 billion won worth of shares, respectively. Individuals were net buyers of 892.5 billion won.
With U.S. stocks finishing broadly higher the previous day, investor sentiment in the domestic market appeared to recover on eased Middle East geopolitical risks.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) electronically the day before announcing the conclusion of cease-fire talks.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.92% from the prior session to notch a record high. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 gained 1.66%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 3.07%.
Among top market-cap stocks on the main board, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix closed at 3,430,000 won, up 60,000 won (1.78%) from the previous session, and 23,820,000 won, up 940,000 won (4.11%), respectively. SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics also finished up 6.23% and 2.45%.