South Korea’s Kospi extended its advance on April 30, briefly topping the 6,750 level ahead of a holiday.
As of 9:05 a.m., the Kospi was up 51.16 points, or 0.76%, at 6,742.06, according to the Korea Exchange. It opened up 48.49 points, or 0.72%, at 6,739.39 and climbed as high as 6,750 during early trading.
Overnight, U.S. stocks finished mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.57% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.04%.
Oil prices jumped. ICE June Brent crude rose 6.1% to $118.03 a barrel and touched $119.76 intraday, the highest since June 2022. NYMEX June WTI surged 6.95% to $106.88 a barrel.
Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said U.S. stocks opened lower after oil spiked, with WTI moving above $107 a barrel, following comments by President Donald Trump that he would not lift a maritime blockade against Iran. He said semiconductor companies showed resilience after earnings reports, but the impact was limited as investors waited for results from major technology firms.
In the Kospi market, foreigners were net buyers of 379.6 billion won, while individuals and institutions sold a net 184.1 billion won and 191.4 billion won, respectively.
Among heavyweight shares, Samsung Electronics rose 1.55%, SK hynix gained 2.09%, Hyundai Motor added 0.27%, SK Square climbed 3.01%, Hanwha Aerospace rose 0.21% and Samsung Biologics advanced 0.41%. LG Energy Solution fell 1.48%, Doosan Enerbility slipped 0.77% and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries lost 0.43%.
The Kosdaq was down 0.54 point, or 0.04%, at 1,219.72. It opened at 1,224.75 but gave up gains and turned lower.
On the Kosdaq, individuals bought a net 266.6 billion won, while foreigners and institutions sold a net 178.3 billion won and 57.2 billion won, respectively.
Rainbow Robotics rose 3.16% and Lino Industrial gained 4.01%. EcoPro fell 1.19%, EcoPro BM slipped 0.47%, Alteogen lost 1.18%, Samchundang Pharm dropped 3.16%, Kolon TissueGene fell 2.51%, HLB slipped 0.63%, ABL Bio lost 2.23% and LigaChem Biosciences fell 2.11%.
Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said local stocks were likely to see a split market between semiconductors and other sectors as investors weigh mixed factors, including the burden of higher oil prices, an April Federal Open Market Committee decision that held rates steady with a hawkish tone, after-hours strength in hyperscaler shares and a roughly 16% after-hours jump in Qualcomm.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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