An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks closed at a fresh record high Thursday, approaching the 6,500-point level, as investors focused on corporate earnings following the United States' indefinite extension of its ceasefire in the conflict with Iran. The local currency fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 57.88 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at a record 6,475.81.

The index surpassed its previous all-time high for the first time in about two months Monday and went on to set new record highs for three consecutive trading sessions.

The index opened 1.1 percent higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, and remained volatile throughout the session, briefly dipping into negative territory before recovering to close with a modest gain.

Investor sentiment was buoyed after US President Donald Trump announced a decision to extend a two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely amid stalled peace talks aimed at ending the conflict.

Sentiment was also supported by data showing that South Korea's real gross domestic product posted its fastest quarterly expansion in 5 1/2 years in the first quarter of 1.7 percent growth, demonstrating resilience despite the ongoing crisis.

Peter Tuchman, a veteran trader at the New York Stock Exchange, said the market impact of the conflict has already run its course, adding that the only remaining variable is oil prices.

Despite the ceasefire, tensions remain high in the Strait of Hormuz, as a US blockade of Iranian ports continues and Iranian forces have seized container ships in the strategic waterway, pushing up global oil prices amid supply disruptions, according to foreign media reports. (Yonhap)