An electronic board shows the Kospi at 6,166.64 points, in a dealing room of the Woori Bank headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)
An electronic board shows the Kospi at 6,166.64 points, in a dealing room of the Woori Bank headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi reclaimed the 6,100 mark in early trading Wednesday, backed by growing expectations that the US and Iran will resume ceasefire negotiations.

The Kospi opened at 6,145.75, up 2.98 percent from the prior session, and was trading slightly higher at 6,146.06 as of 10:30 a.m. It marked the first time the index had risen above the 6,100 level since recent Middle East tensions began weighing on the market.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 3.75 percent to 214,250 won ($145), while SK hynix climbed 5.44 percent to 1.16 million won. Earlier in the session, SK hynix hit a fresh record high of 1.17 million won, extending its record-breaking rally from the previous session.

Foreign and institutional investors lifted the index, with net purchases of roughly 363 billion won and 222 billion won, respectively, while retail investors offloaded a net 698 billion won on the bourse.

The rally also pushed the total market capitalization of Kospi-listed firms back above the 5,000 trillion won threshold. The combined market cap stood at 5,035.5 trillion won, according to the Korea Exchange, advancing from the previous day’s 4,894.52 trillion won at closing.

The main bourse’s market cap first exceeded 5,000 trillion won on Feb. 25, but fell sharply following the US and Israel's strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.


silverstar@heraldcorp.com