Seoul Stocks Soar 2.5% on Hopes for Strait of Hormuz Reopening

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 128.99 points, or 2.46 percent, to 5,363.0, reports Yonhap news agency.

The index opened 2.7 percent higher, rebounding from a sharp decline the previous session, and maintained its momentum on solid buying by institutional investors.

Concerns about further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East still remain high after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a prime-time address on Wednesday (U.S. time) that the United States would hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," without providing a timeline for ending the conflict that began in late February.

But Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, however, said Tehran is drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes for progress in reopening the waterway, which has effectively been shut since the start of the war.

In Seoul, big-cap tech shares led the upturn of the index.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics surged 3.28 percent, while chip giant SK hynix soared 5.18 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 1.29 percent, while its affiliate Kia rose 0.2 percent.

Defence giant Hanwha Aerospace climbed 2.05 percent, and artificial intelligence investment firm SK Square went up 1.06 percent. Nuclear power plant builder Doosan Enerbility jumped 3.42 percent.

Shipbuilders gathered ground. Local industry leader HD Hyundai Heavy spiked 9 percent, and its rival Hanwha Ocean went up 5.62 percent.

But leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 0.87 percent, and bio giant Samsung Biologics lost 1.77 percent. Leading financial firm KB Financial shed 0.07 percent.

- IANS