On the 22nd, the KOSPI opened lower but turned higher in the morning and reclaimed 9,200 points. Despite friction emerging as the United States and Iran held cease-fire talks, the index rebounded as household and pension fund money flowed back into large semiconductor stocks.

As of 10:30 a.m., the KOSPI was up 2% from the previous trading day, trading strong around the 9,240 level. Foreign investors were net sellers in large volume, but individuals and institutions were buying aggressively, supporting the index's rise. The KOSPI started the session at 8,954.43, down 97.99 points (1.08%), but the early losses narrowed and it turned higher.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, who visits Korea on the 8th, greets LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo during a visit to LG Group headquarters. LG Group shares rise on the 22nd on news that LG Group executives visit Nvidia's U.S. headquarters this time. /Courtesy of News1

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which opened lower, both turned higher. SK hynix's gains, in particular, were large. As a result, the market capitalization gap between SK hynix and Samsung Electronics narrowed sharply to around 30 trillion won. SK Square was also up more than 8%.

What dampened sentiment early in the session was news that the United States and Iran were clashing during cease-fire negotiations.

Over the weekend, U.S. and Iranian delegations were in Switzerland holding talks to implement a cease-fire memorandum of understanding (MOU), but over the weekend U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran hard again if it did not stop Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based armed faction aligned with Iran. According to reports, in protest, the Iranian negotiating team walked out of the talks.

However, analysts say a cease-fire deal will eventually be reached. Lee Eun-taek, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "Considering the U.S. midterm election schedule, there is a possibility that a cease-fire agreement will be concluded in late summer," and noted, "This round of talks is an intermediate step, so noise in the middle is inevitable."

With analysis pointing to the war nearing its end, money is flowing back into large semiconductor stocks expected to post better earnings.

Another stock drawing attention was the LG Group complex. Shares of LG Electronics and LG CNS were surging on news that top executives of LG Group affiliates visited Nvidia headquarters in the United States to discuss cooperation in physical artificial intelligence (AI) and Robotics.

As the KOSPI rebounded, the KOSDAQ market turned lower again. The KOSDAQ index opened down and rose early in the session, but turned lower when the KOSPI rebounded.

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