South Korean market opens sharply higher on tech rally amid Middle East flare-up
South Korean shares surged at the opening bell, led by technology stocks, even as military tensions between the United States and Iran escalated.
At the start of trading on Monday, South Korea's benchmark KOSPI rose 223.57 points, or roughly 3.34%, to 6,910.78, propelled by a sharp rally in technology shares. The surge came despite heightened military confrontations in the Middle East, where Iran claimed to have targeted three oil tankers and several U.S.-affiliated vessels using an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz, responding to recent U.S. attacks on Iranian tankers.
In the United States, equity markets had closed lower on robust employment figures that raised expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes, with the Dow Jones slipping 0.51% and the Nasdaq down 0.29%. However, the PHLX semiconductor index climbed 3.38% after OpenAI unveiled its new GPT-6 Astra model, which analysts expect will boost demand for memory chips. The combination of regional security concerns and tech-driven optimism shaped the opening dynamics of the Korean market.
How this was covered
- The two sides describe this in almost entirely different words
Why it matters
The rally shows how tech developments can offset geopolitical risk in Asian equity markets.
In this story
