KOSPI surges 2.66% on Wall Street rally, foreign buying

On Friday, the KOSPI, South Korea's main stock index, experienced a significant surge of more than 2 percent, surpassing the 6,890 threshold and reclaiming a level last seen on September 8. This rise was propelled by an overnight rally on Wall Street and a resurgence in foreign buying.

At the opening bell, the index commenced trading at 6,885.70, marking a gain of 170.29 points, or 2.54 percent, from the previous close. Soon after, the index reached an intraday peak of 6,914.08, reflecting a surge of 2.96 percent, and briefly breaking above the 6,900 mark before settling at 6,894.23, up 178.82 points, or 2.66 percent, for the day.

Influential market participants from foreign and institutional backgrounds led the buying frenzy, accumulating a net value of 438.8 billion won, equivalent to $317 million, and purchasing a total of 1.5 trillion won worth of equities. Conversely, domestic retail investors exited the market with a net outflow of 3.59 trillion won.

This marked the first instance of net buying by foreign investors since September 8. The index's turnaround came after a relatively subdued performance in the preceding session, where it only experienced a marginal decline of 0.04 percent despite the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance on interest rates. Local equities witnessed a substantial upward momentum from an overnight rebound across all three major U.S. stock benchmarks.

This positive momentum was further bolstered by a decline in U.S. Treasury yields and a slowdown in global market activity.