[Good Morning Market] Hopes for Tariff War Easing: "Korean Stock Market Expected to Open Higher"

News of U.S.-China Tariff War Easing Drives Upward Momentum
Focus Shifts to Korea-U.S. Tariff Talks Tomorrow Night

On April 23, the domestic stock market is expected to open higher, buoyed by a rebound in major U.S. technology stocks. In particular, news of an easing in the U.S.-China tariff war is anticipated to provide a momentum for stock price recovery to sectors affected by tariffs, such as secondary batteries, semiconductors, and IT home appliances.

Earlier, on April 22 (local time), the New York stock market rebounded across the board as investors were reassured by comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant that the U.S.-China tariff war would soon subside. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) rose 1,016.57 points (2.66%) to close at 39,186.98, the large-cap S&P 500 gained 129.56 points (2.51%) to 5,287.76, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 429.52 points (2.71%) to finish at 16,300.42. This came just one day after a wave of 'Sell America' following U.S. President Donald Trump's pressure for interest rate cuts.

Reuters Yonhap News

Kim Ji-won, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "After the market closed, Besant's remarks led to broad after-hours gains in major U.S. technology and semiconductor stocks, and the dollar also extended its gains." She added, "In today's domestic market, the earnings announcements from SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, as well as the results and guidance reflecting the impact of tariffs, will be key variables."

Although the market may feel fatigued by President Trump's repeated policy reversals within a single day, the successful rebound of major technology stocks is being viewed as a positive factor. Lee Sunghoon, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, commented, "Not only Tesla, but also other Magnificent 7 (M7) stocks such as Nvidia and Apple have all rebounded by 2-3%, which suggests that investors are betting the U.S.-China standoff will not escalate to the extreme." He continued, "This news of tariff war easing is expected to provide a short-term momentum for stock price recovery in domestic sectors affected by tariffs, such as secondary batteries, semiconductors, and IT home appliances."

There is also analysis that the downward revision of the global growth outlook in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s April revised economic forecast the previous day will have only a limited impact on the stock market. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Today, despite the burden of downward revisions in economic outlooks for major countries, including Korea (from 2.0% to 1.0%) by the IMF, the domestic market is expected to open higher, supported by the 2% rebound in the U.S. market." However, she pointed out, "From an industry perspective, the fact that Tesla reported weaker-than-expected earnings and did not provide guidance due to tariff uncertainties is a negative factor."

The market's attention is now turning to the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations set to begin tomorrow night (8 a.m. on April 24, U.S. time). iM Securities noted, "With the first-quarter earnings season underway, the downside rigidity of the index remains strong, but there is also little room for a significant rise." The firm predicted, "Until the results of the tariff negotiations are announced, the stock market is expected to show limited upward movement."