The KOSPI index opened higher on the 16th, putting 9,000 points within sight.
With New York stocks closing higher across the board on news the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war the previous day, analysts said a warm breeze is blowing through investor sentiment in the domestic market.
On the day, the KOSPI index started at 8,696.55, up 150.57 points (1.76%) from the previous trading day.
In the early session on the main bourse, individuals are net buying 200 billion won, while foreigners and institutions are net selling about 60 billion won and about 130 billion won, respectively.
With U.S. stocks closing higher across the board the previous day, investor sentiment in the domestic market also appears to be recovering on the easing of geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were said to have electronically signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the previous day after they released the conclusion of cease-fire talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.92% from the previous session to a record high. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 climbed 1.66%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 3.07%.
International oil prices also fell to a three-month low. On the ICE Futures Exchange, August-delivery Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled at $83.2 a barrel, down 4.9% from the previous trading day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July-delivery West Texas Intermediate futures also fell 4.8% to $80.75 a barrel.
U.S. Government Bonds yields and the dollar also weakened. The two-year Treasury yield, which is tied to the benchmark rate, fell 0.02 percentage point to around 4.06%. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. dollar against six major currencies, fell more than 0.13% to 99.36.
In U.S. trading the previous day, artificial intelligence (AI) chip-related stocks that had recently undergone corrections turned higher.
Memory chipmaker Micron rose 10.84%. Western Digital (16.1%), SanDisk (6.45%), Seagate (9.43%) and Nvidia (3.54%) also advanced. Space and aviation corporations SpaceX also surged 19.6% at the close.
Among large-cap stocks on the main bourse, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were up 1.93% and 4.11%, respectively, as of 9:03 a.m. from the previous trading day.