SEOUL, October 30 (AJP) - South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI extended gains early Thursday after Seoul and Washington reached a long-awaited tariff agreement, removing a key bilateral sticking point ahead of a high-stakes U.S.–China summit later in the day, while other Asian markets were on hold as investors awaited direction on broader geopolitical tensions.
The KOSPI climbed 0.3 percent to 4,090 as of 10:30 a.m., following confirmation that President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump finalized the tariff terms during the APEC 2025 summit in Gyeongju. Retail investors bought a net 206 billion won ($140 million), joined by foreigners with 57.5 billion won, while institutions and credit-finance firms sold a combined 275 billion won to lock in recent gains.
Automakers surged after the two nations agreed to cut U.S. automobile tariffs on Korean cars from 25 percent to 15 percent. Hyundai Motor jumped 6 percent to 272,500 won and had briefly triggered a two-minute volatility interruption the previous day after spiking more than 13 percent. Kia rose 3.7 percent to 120,100 won.
Hanwha Group stocks rallied on new momentum. Hanwha Ocean jumped 12 percent to 148,000 won after Trump posted that a Korean nuclear-powered submarine would be built at the company-owned Philly Shipyard in the U.S. Hanwha Systems soared 17 percent to 64,800 won on its plan to enter the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) market through a partnership with U.S. marine-technology firm HavocAI.
Samsung Electronics rose 4 percent to 104,500 won after reporting third-quarter operating profit of 12.1 trillion won, up 33 percent on year, with its Device Solutions division delivering a stronger-than-expected 7 trillion won profit. SK hynix was nearly flat, inching up 0.2 percent to 558,500 won as foreign investors such as J.P. Morgan took profits after Wednesday’s record-setting rally.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2 percent to 51,180. Sumitomo Electric gained 5 percent to 5,253 yen, and Advantest added 4 percent to 23,000 yen, while exporters with minimal U.S. manufacturing presence underperformed, with Komatsu plunging 6 percent to 5,220 yen.
China’s Shanghai Composite inched down 0.1 percent to 4,010, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 percent to 26,540. Taiwan’s TAIEX slipped 0.2 percent to 28,280.
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