[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-il ] The KOSPI surged by more than 4%, triggering the buy-side circuit breaker. Overnight, the New York stock market rose across the board, buoyed by expectations of easing tensions in the Middle East and strong earnings from tech stocks. Meanwhile, investor sentiment appears to be improving as foreign and institutional investors are buying stocks, particularly semiconductor shares.

According to MP Doctor on the 5th, as of 9:31 a.m., the KOSPI stood at 6,661.04, up 302.09 points (4.75%) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ is also trading at 800.93, up 20.21 points (2.59%).

On the stock market today, a buy-side sidecar (temporary suspension of buy orders in program trading) was triggered at 9:24 a.m. This marks the 22nd buy-side sidecar this year, and the 45th overall when including sell-side sidecars (23 occurrences). The Korea Exchange explained that the trigger conditions were met because the price of the KOSPI 200 near-month futures contract remained 5.12% above the reference price for more than one minute. Consequently, the effectiveness of program buy orders was suspended for five minutes. Following three consecutive trading days of buy sidecar activations in the KOSDAQ market, a buy sidecar was also triggered in the KOSPI market today.

By investor type, foreign investors and institutions are driving the index higher on the KOSPI, with net purchases of 378.1 billion won and 139.7 billion won, respectively. In contrast, retail investors are net sellers of 497.1 billion won. On the KOSDAQ, retail investors are net buyers of 265.9 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions are net sellers of 204.4 billion won and 63.2 billion won, respectively.

By market capitalization, large-cap stocks (4.56%) led the gains, with mid-cap (2.80%) and small-cap (1.98%) stocks also rising across the board. By sector, construction (6.12%) and electrical/electronics (5.43%) are leading the gains, while machinery/equipment (3.79%), retail (3.58%), finance (3.53%), and transportation equipment/parts (3.08%) are also showing strength, with all sectors posting gains.

Among the top market-cap stocks, SamsungElectronics(005930)(5.00%), SK hynix(000660)(7.80%), SamsungElectroMechanics(009150)(12.15%), SKSQUARE(402340)(7.36%), and SamsungElectronics(1P)(005935)(4.71%) are showing strong gains. HyundaiMotor(005380)(4.33%), LG Energy Solution(373220)(2.74%), KB Financial Group(105560)(2.78%), and SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION(028260)(7.44%) are also rising in tandem, indicating that buying momentum is spreading across large-cap stocks in general. As U.S. semiconductor stocks showed strength overnight and investor sentiment toward AI recovered, buying interest is flowing into domestic semiconductor stocks as well.

Ko Young-min, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities, noted, “Recent stock price volatility in the semiconductor sector has been driven more by supply-and-demand and sentiment factors than by a deterioration in business conditions,” adding, “Uncertainty regarding business conditions in the second half of the year is limited.”

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, Alteogen Inc.(196170)(6.18%), JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.(036930)(4.85%), HLB INC.(028300)(4.66%), LEENO Industrial Inc(058470)(3.88%), Rainbow Robotics(277810)(2.46%), ECOPRO CO., LTD(086520)(2.20%), ECOPRO BM CO., LTD.(247540)(1.27%), and LigaChem Biosciences(141080)(1.18%) are all rising. On the other hand, Peptron, Inc.(087010)(-0.58%) and PharmaResearch(214450)(-0.91%) are trading lower.

Rising stocks are also dominant across the market as a whole. On the KOSPI market, 757 stocks rose and 124 fell. On the KOSDAQ market, 1,386 stocks rose—including 8 that hit their daily upper price limit—while 262 fell.

Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Securities, commented, “U.S. stock markets showed strength driven by optimism over a potential resolution to the Middle East negotiations and AI-related optimism stemming from strong earnings in the tech sector.” He added, “The domestic stock market is also seeing rotational buying flow into sectors such as defense, cosmetics, and the KOSDAQ, as the concentration on semiconductor stocks eases.” He added, “Earnings reports from domestic companies such as SKTelecom and APR, along with key economic indicators like the U.S. ADP private employment report and the ISM Services Index, will serve as additional variables influencing the market going forward.”