Mideast

South Korean stocks rebounded to a fresh all-time high Friday, driven by strong gains in stocks related to artificial intelligence (AI) and renewed optimism about a potential ceasefire in the Middle East. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 290.86 points, or 3.55 percent, to close at 8,476.15, after hitting a new intraday high of 8,615.09.

Trade volume was heavy at 701.5 million shares worth 73.7 trillion won (US$48.9 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 686 to 205.

Foreign and individual investors unloaded local shares worth a net 1.04 trillion won and 1.4 trillion won, respectively, while institutions scooped up a net 2.37 trillion won.

The index restarted its record-breaking run after losing 0.53 percent the previous day. The KOSPI had risen for four consecutive sessions starting May 21, breaching the 8,000-point level for the first time Tuesday.

Overnight news reports that the United States and Iran had reached an agreement to extend the current ceasefire for 60 days and resume talks on Tehran’s nuclear program pushed up the index.

AI shares were boosted by the latest reports that Nvidia Corp. founder Jensen Huang plans to visit South Korea next week.

“Backed by gains in major stocks, the KOSPI rallied on news of Jensen Huang’s planned visit,” said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. “Stocks related to Huang’s Korean visit closed in positive territory.”

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 5.84 percent to 317,000 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 1.92 percent to 2.33 million won.

LG Electronics shot up 29.93 percent to 293,000 won, and internet giant Naver surged 14.15 percent to 234,000 won. The two companies were reportedly on the top of Jensen Huang’s Korean schedule.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 6.79 percent to 723,000 won, and its auto parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis moved up 11.95 percent to 768,000 won.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 3.62 percent to 458,000 won, and pharmaceutical giant Celltrion gained 1.53 percent to 192,900 won.

However, major bank share Hana Financial Group retreated 0.17 percent to 115,100 won, and food giant Nongshim was down 0.77 percent to 385,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,507.9 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 5.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 3.5 basis points to 3.731 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds dropped 6.8 basis points to 3.924 percent.

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South Korean stocks shot up nearly 6.5 percent Wednesday, extending a record-breaking run to top the 7,300-point mark, driven by a semiconductor rally and optimism for a potential peace deal in the Middle East. The local currency also strengthened against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 447.57 points, or 6.45 percent, to a fresh record high of 7,384.56.

It marked the second-largest daily gain in terms of points following 490.36 points reached on March 5.

Trade volume was heavy at 984.4 million shares worth 58.2 trillion won (US$40 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 199 to 677.

Foreigners bought 3.1 trillion won worth of local shares, while institutions and individuals dumped a net 2.3 trillion won and 571.2 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pause operations to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz as part of efforts to reach a final agreement with Iran.

The KOSPI opened 2.25 percent higher to surpass the landmark 7,000-point threshold for the first time and extended the gains throughout the session.

The main index has been on a bullish run in recent months, surpassing the 5,000-point mark in late January and topping another milestone of 6,000 points in February.

After recouping its losses in March following the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war in late February, the KOSPI breached the 7,000-point level on continued optimism over the artificial intelligence (AI) boom and hopes for the reopening of the key waterway.

“Global tech giants’ strong performances and the strengthened value chain for AI data centers boosted the AI-related shares,” Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said. “In particular, the market’s top-three shares of Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and SK Square led the rally.”

Top-cap Samsung Electronics surged 14.41 percent to close at 266,000 won, pushing its market capitalization above 1.5 quadrillion won and becoming the second Asian company to surpass the $1 trillion milestone after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

SK hynix soared 10.64 percent to 1.6 million won, and AI investment firm SK Square jumped 9.89 percent to 1.1 million won.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a chip manufacturing company, rose 4.37 percent to 394,500 won, and LG Electronics vaulted 8.17 percent to 154,900 won.

However, shipbuilding and defense shares dropped. Major shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 4.71 percent to 648,000 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace lost 2.18 percent to 1.4 million won.

Leading biotech firm Samsung Biologics declined 0.34 percent to 1.48 million won, and top mobile carrier SK Telecom backtracked 1.95 percent to 95,500 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,455.1 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 7.7 won from the previous session.

The quotation marks the highest since February 27, when the currency closed at 1,439.7 to the greenback.

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President Obama is planning to speak in the “near future” on U.S. policy in the Mideast, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.

“It’s a speech to a broader audience than just the Arab world,” Carney said at his televised briefing. He didn’t specify when or where the president will speak, but said it will be in “the relatively near future.”

Obama is scheduled to begin a five-day European trip May 23.

The speech will come as the United States faces a slew of issues in the Middle East, including pro-democracy uprisings in several countries, a stalled Mideast peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, and the ongoing issue of nuclear proliferation and Iran.

The speech also will come within weeks of the U.S. raid in Pakistan during which terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was killed. The raid has raised questions from some about the future of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, which the West invaded seeking to end the Taliban state that was sheltering terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The raid has also raised questions about what Pakistan leaders knew about Bin Laden and whether the founder of Al Qaeda was being protected by elements of the Pakistani intelligence community.

Obama is scheduled to meet next week with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, a strong U.S. ally, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been invited to address Congress. Efforts to bring peace between Netanyahu’s government and the Palestinians have bogged down despite early U.S. efforts. Complicating that issue is the apparent reconciliation between Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian National Authority, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, the other part of the Palestinian entity. Israel and the United States view Hamas as a terrorist group.

In 2009, Obama visited Cairo in what was billed as an overture to the Islamic world, still smarting from the Bush years and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama mainly spoke of the positive power of Islam as a world force.

Since then, much of the Arab world has been shattered by ongoing pro-democracy revolutions and, in some cases, civil wars and extensive state repression.

In some countries, notably Syria and Libya, where the United States has had long-term questions about the rulers, the United States strongly condemned the use of force against citizens and took even more severe actions. The Obama administration helped engineer a United Nations resolution that has imposed a no-fly zone on Libya, which is being enforced by NATO. The Obama administration has also spoken out forcefully against Syria’s violence against its citizens.

Though it has condemned state violence, the Obama administration has been less forceful with some nations with friendlier governments, such as Yemen and Bahrain, and it was slow to condemn Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, who was eventually deposed by the military after extensive demonstrations.

Michael.muskal@latimes.com

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal