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Kospi jumps 1% on Trump's comments about tariff exemptions

Published: 26 Mar. 2025, 17:33 Updated: 26 Mar. 2025, 19:06

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,643.94 points on March 26, up 28.13 points, or 1.08 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares ended more than 1 percent higher Wednesday on tech gains, with investors somewhat relieved by U.S. President Donald Trump's recent comments on tariffs.

The benchmark Kospi rose 28.13 points, or 1.08 percent, to close at 2,643.94. The Kosdaq rose 5.22 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 716.48.

Trade volume was moderate at 499.76 million shares worth 7.56 trillion won ($5.5 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 458 to 413.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.46 percent.

Institutions and foreigners bought a net 260.29 billion won and 350.35 billion won, respectively, while individuals sold 683.04 billion won worth of stocks.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said there could be possible tariff exemptions or reductions for trade partners that contribute to job creation in the United States.

In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led gains.

Samsung Electronics jumped 2.68 percent to 61,400 won and SK hynix rose 2.88 percent to 214,000 won.

Hyundai Motor climbed 0.91 percent to 222,000 won and Kia gained 0.6 percent to 101,400 won. Hyundai Mobis also rose 1.42 percent to 285,500 won.

LG Energy Solution rose 7.30 percent to 360,000 won, while LG Display rose 2.29 percent to 9,380 won. Hanwha Aerospace rose 1.99 percent to 667,000 won.

Korea Iron rose 3.03 percent to 849,000 won.

Among decliners, Jeju Air fell 0.28 percent to 7,020 won and tobacco company KT&G shed 1.18 percent to 100,100 won.

Naver fell 1.69 percent to 204,000 won, while Kakao rose 1.66 percent to 42,900 won. KT also fell 0.4 percent to 49,800 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,466.3 won against the dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 2.9 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 0.5 basis points to 2.617 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds lost 2.6 basis points to end at 4.316 percent.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]