The KOSPI closed at 5,583.9, up 490.4 points, or 9.6 percent, after swinging between an intraday low of 5,248.13 and a high of 5,715.3. Turnover reached 44.81 trillion won. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ outperformed, jumping 14.1 percent to 1,116.4.
After a stunning flop on the previous two sessions, Korea marched far ahead of regional peers, with the KOSPI’s 9.6 percent gain dwarfing Japan’s Nikkei 225 rise of 1.9 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite advance of 0.6 percent.
Buying was driven largely by retail investors on the main board, who snapped up 1.7964 trillion won ($1.23 billion) worth of shares on a net basis. Foreign investors, by contrast, sold 144.5 billion won, while institutions offloaded 1.7187 trillion won.
On the KOSDAQ, the pattern flipped, with foreigners and institutions emerging as heavy buyers — purchasing 831.8 billion won and 741.5 billion won, respectively — as retail investors turned net sellers of 1.5528 trillion won.
Large-cap leaders anchored the rebound. Samsung Electronics rose 11.3 percent to 191,600 won, while SK hynix gained 11 percent to 941,000 won, keeping semiconductors at the center of the rally. Hyundai Motor climbed 9.4 percent to 548,000 won, while LG Energy Solution added 6.9 percent to 371,500 won. Samsung Biologics jumped 8.6 percent to 1,647,000 won, and Hanwha Aerospace rose 4.4 percent to 1,381,000 won.
Despite the strong finish, it was a roller-coaster ride.
A buy-side sidecar was triggered shortly after the opening bell on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ as program buying accelerated. Sidecars temporarily halt program-trading orders when index moves breach preset thresholds, a mechanism aimed at cooling abrupt swings.
Elsewhere in the region, investors weighed policy signals out of China after Premier Li Qiang unveiled a 2026 growth target range of 4.5 to 5 percent at the opening of the National People’s Congress, stepping down from the “around 5 percent” goal maintained in recent years. China’s Shanghai Composite ended 0.6 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent.
Japan also joined the rebound. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.9 percent, with the index bouncing sharply in early trade as bargain hunting followed three sessions of losses tied to Middle East tensions. The Nikkei briefly climbed into the 56,600 range, recouping much of the previous day’s decline, while roughly 90 percent of stocks on the TSE Prime market traded higher.
Semiconductor-linked and financial shares rebounded as well, with Advantest jumping about 7 percent at one point and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising around 5 percent.
The Korean won which hovered near 1,480 came down to 1,460 range amid broad easing in the greenback and oil prices. The dollar was 1,469.40.
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