Amid rising hopes for a peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran, the KOSPI surged over 7% in early trading, reclaiming the 8,300 mark. The KOSDAQ also maintained its upward momentum, driven by strength in semiconductor stocks, and regained the Thousand KOSDAQ level after a five-day hiatus.

As of 9:12 a.m. (Korean time) on Friday, the KOSPI was up 585.78 points (7.54%) from the previous day, reaching 8,349.73.

KOSPI 200 futures also jumped nearly 8% in early trading, triggering the KOSPI buy-side circuit breaker around 9:06 a.m. (Korean time). This marks the 13th activation of the KOSPI buy-side circuit breaker this year, coming just three trading days after the last occurrence on Tuesday.

The sharp rebound appears to be a ripple effect from the U.S. stock market rally, particularly in semiconductor stocks. Despite the U.S. May Producer Price Index (PPI) exceeding expectations and the European Central Bank raising interest rates for the first time in three years - fueling tightening fears - President Donald Trump's statement about potentially signing a peace agreement with Iran this weekend reinvigorated investor sentiment. Consequently, semiconductor stocks like Micron and Intel Corporation surged, propelling the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by nearly 8%.

As peace expectations led to simultaneous drops in global oil prices and market interest rates, the USD-KRW exchange rate in Seoul's foreign exchange market opened 10.9 KRW (about 0.0072 USD) lower at 1,518.0 KRW (about 1.00 USD).

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted gains of around 10%, with their stock prices rebounding to 330,000 KRW (about 217 USD) and 2,300,000 KRW (about 1,512 USD), respectively.

The KOSDAQ also reclaimed the Thousand KOSDAQ level after five trading days. At the same time, the tech-heavy index was up 40.8 points (4.09%) to 1,037.73 compared to the previous day.

Amid rising hopes for a peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran, the KOSPI surged over 7 …

KOSPI Surges 7% Amid U.S.-Iran Peace Talks: What This Means for Investors