Samsung up 11%, SK Hynix up 9% in a dual surge
All top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market cap gain
The KOSPI index jumped more than 6% on the 3rd, climbing back above the 5,200 level. Erasing the impact of having fallen below 5,000 the previous day, it maintained gains across all sectors and set a new all-time closing high in four trading days.
The KOSPI ended the day at 5,288.08, up 338.41 points (+6.84%) from the previous session. It broke through the previous all-time closing high of 5,244.36, which had been set on January 30. Provisional figures showed KOSPI trading volume at 666.52 million shares and trading value at 29.321525 trillion won.
Foreign investors and institutions were net buyers of 902.9 billion won and 2.3656 trillion won, respectively, driving the market higher. Retail investors were net sellers of 3.3415 trillion won.
The Korea Exchange even triggered a buy-side sidecar at around 9:26 a.m. that day. A buy-side sidecar was activated after KOSPI 200 futures (near-month contract) rose more than 5% from the previous day and maintained that level for one minute. This came just one day after a sell-side sidecar was triggered for the first time this year.
The downward pressure on share prices caused by the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) appeared to have been fully reversed during the session. On January 30, when former Fed Governor Warsh was nominated as the 17th Fed Chair, prices of precious metals and virtual assets fell while the U.S. dollar strengthened. Warsh, who favors interest rate cuts while simultaneously advocating balance sheet reduction (quantitative tightening), had amplified market volatility. However, as analysis spread that concerns over Warsh were exaggerated, and as positive factors such as a stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) followed, the stock market rebounded.
The KOSPI rose across all industry groups. Securities (+14.86%) posted the strongest gains, followed by electrical and electronics +9.81%, manufacturing +7.62%, machinery and equipment +7.14%, construction +6.77%, and distribution +6.24%.
All of the top 10 stocks by market capitalization advanced. Samsung Electronics, the largest by market cap, rose 11.2%, reclaiming the so-called "160,000 won Samsung" level, while second-ranked SK Hynix climbed 9.1%, regaining the "900,000 won Hynix" level. SK Square gained 8.1%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries 5.8%, Doosan Enerbility 5.5%, Hanwha Aerospace 4.7%, Hyundai Motor 3.0%, LG Energy Solution 2.8%, Kia 2.4%, and Samsung Biologics 2.2%, with all of them finishing higher.
The KOSDAQ index also ended higher. The KOSDAQ closed at 1,144.33, up 45.97 points (+4.19%) from the previous session. Foreign investors were net sellers of 152.0 billion won and retail investors 651.6 billion won, while institutions were net buyers of 873.7 billion won.
Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, Samchundang Pharm rose the most with a 13.7% gain, followed by Rainbow Robotics up 6.4%, Ecopro up 4.1%, HLB up 3.8%, Ecopro BM up 2.3%, Alteogen up 2.0%, Leeno Industrial up 1.9%, ABL Bio up 1.8%, Peptron up 0.5%, and Legochem Biosciences up 0.2%, all closing higher.
Lee Kyungmin, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "Both the U.S. stock market and the KOSPI have overcome the 'Warsh shock' and successfully rebounded," adding, "Because there was no change in fundamentals aside from the impact of flows, bargain hunting quickly emerged and recouped the previous day's losses."
He went on to explain the activation of a buy-side sidecar just two days after a sell-side sidecar, saying, "Recent similar cases were March 23-24, 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic), August 5-6, 2024 (yen carry trade unwinding), and April 7-8, 2025 (announcement of U.S. reciprocal tariffs), and in each of these cases the market formed a bottom and then rebounded."
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