KOSPI Index in South Korea rebounds from deep losses, surges 12%

2026-03-05 01:06:15

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Investing.com - South Korea’s KOSPI index surged 12% in Thursday’s early trading, rebounding from heavy losses over the past two trading days. The index had previously erased most of this year’s gains.

The KOSPI index rose as much as 12% to 5,695.64 points, and as of 19:14 Eastern Time (00:14 Beijing Time), it was up 10.7%.

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Chipmakers Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) and SK Hynix (KS:000660) were central to the recent decline in the KOSPI, both jumping about 12%, with automaker Hyundai Motor (KS:005380) also rising by the same margin.

South Korea’s stock market suffered heavy losses over the past two days amid escalating Middle East geopolitical tensions and growing concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence, triggering a large-scale sell-off.

This led to a profit-taking wave in the KOSPI, which has been the best-performing major global index so far in 2026. The index had risen nearly 50% this year, reaching a series of record highs by last week.

Overly bullish positions at the end of February also contributed to the KOSPI’s decline this week, especially as the market sentiment rapidly deteriorated due to the US-Iran conflict, leading to large-scale short covering.

Despite the decline this week, the KOSPI is still up about 30% this year. Market optimism about South Korea’s AI initiatives, particularly through its chip manufacturing and industrial companies, has driven much of the recent rally.

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