Kospi Closes at Record 6,417.93 Despite Failed US-Iran Truce Talks

South Korea’s Kospi closed at another record high on April 22, finishing above the 6,400 level after a late-session rebound. The benchmark index ended up 29.46 points, or 0.46%, at 6,417.93.

A second round of ceasefire talks between the US and Iran collapsed, but investors appeared to take comfort from President Donald Trump’s effectively open-ended truce declaration. Traders instead focused on expectations for a run of strong earnings from Korean companies.

Retail investors buy a net 1.7798 trillion won, lifting the index

Kosdaq also turns higher late in the session

Semiconductor substrate shares rise while builders fall

The Kospi opened down 0.01% and traded around the flatline until about 9:45 a.m. It then moved lower before reversing course at around 2:16 p.m. and extending gains slightly into the close. The index rose for a third straight session despite lingering uncertainty over the Iran conflict.

On the main board, retail investors bought a net 1.7798 trillion won of shares, leading the advance. Foreign and institutional investors sold a net 752 billion won and 920.3 billion won, respectively.

The market showed little reaction to the failure of the second round of US-Iran ceasefire talks. After Trump declared the truce would be extended, investors appeared to conclude that the worst-case scenario had been avoided, bringing buyers back into the market. Samsung Electronics’ first-quarter earnings surprise also reinforced a shift toward earnings-driven trading rather than selling tied to war headlines.

Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said external factors were still stoking risk aversion, but earnings and order momentum were supporting the market’s downside.

Among the largest Kospi companies by market value, Samsung SDI rose 2.17%, Hanwha Aerospace gained 1.8%, LG Energy Solution added 1.36%, SK Square climbed 0.28% and Doosan Enerbility advanced 0.17%. On the downside, KB Financial Group fell 1.87%, Samsung Biologics lost 1.7%, Hyundai Motor slipped 0.92% and Samsung Electronics dropped 0.68%. SK Hynix edged up 0.08%, while Kia was unchanged.

Semiconductor substrate-related shares finished broadly higher, with ISU Petasys surging 21.17%, LG Innotek jumping 17.65% and Samsung Electro-Mechanics rising 5.18%. Investors cited expectations for price gains stemming from shortages of printed circuit boards and flip-chip ball grid array substrates. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries also soared 11.28% after news that it had signed a contract with a US energy company to supply power-generation equipment for data centers.

Construction shares, by contrast, fell across the board. Hyundai Engineering & Construction dropped 3.49%, GS E&C lost 3.25%, DL E&C fell 2.58% and Samsung E&A declined 2.13%. Delays in US-Iran truce talks weakened hopes that Middle East reconstruction would boost the sector.

The Kosdaq rose 2.09 points, or 0.18%, to close at 1,181.12. The index opened down 0.19% and stayed in negative territory before turning higher at around 3:14 p.m. Foreign investors, who had joined retail traders in selling early in the session, switched to net buying in afternoon trade and helped reverse the index. On the Kosdaq, retail and foreign investors bought a net 406.1 billion won and 96.8 billion won, respectively, while institutions sold a net 374.2 billion won.

Among the biggest Kosdaq stocks by market capitalization, Samchundang Pharm plunged 15.25%, ABL Bio fell 3.53%, LigaChem Biosciences lost 2.99%, HLB dropped 2.88%, Alteogen slipped 2.57%, Kolon TissueGene fell 2.16%, Ecopro BM declined 1.13% and Rainbow Robotics shed 0.83%. Lino Industrial rose 1.43% and Ecopro gained 0.37%.

In Seoul’s foreign-exchange market, the won closed the daytime session at 1,476 per dollar, up 7.5 won from the previous session.

Ko Jung-sam, Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com