Korea’s Kospi surged 11% in a historic rebound, outperforming cryptocurrencies

The KOSPI index in South Korea, a day after the worst daily loss in its history, registered a growth of more than 11% on Thursday, achieving one of the most dramatic turns that the index has seen.

Seoul is the major economy most directly connected to the instability crisis in the Middle East – and this week it proved.

The Cosby and Cosdak Rebound Indexes

South Korea’s two main stock indexes – the KOSPI for large-cap stocks and the KOSDAC for technology stocks – are among the most active markets in Asia and represent a key indicator of retail investor sentiment in Korea.

The mid-morning Kospi was at 5,682 – from Wednesday’s close of 5,093 – after hitting daily highs of 5,715. The Kosdaq index recovered above the 1,000 level, showing gains of more than 11%. Sidecar’s buy feature was activated at the start of trading – in marked contrast to… The property of Sidecar is for sale and trading will be completely stopped on Wednesday. The Korean won rose sharply, retreating from an overnight high of 1,505 to trade near 1,461.

The boost came after oil prices stabilized, with Brent crude remaining at $81.40 and WTI at $74.66, and with reports of… Informal communications Between Washington and Tehran boosted sentiment in Asian markets. Wall Street saw a higher close on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq up 1.29%, led by Tesla (+3.44%), Amazon (+3.95%), and Nvidia (+1.66%).

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix – which have lost 21% and 22.75% respectively since their peaks in late February – saw a 13-15% rise in early trade. Foreign investors, who used both stocks as primary liquidity during the panic, returned as net buyers of more than 710 billion twenty by mid-morning. Individual investors added 600 billion won to their side.

Why was Korea hit harder than others?

The scale of the collapse and recovery reflects a structural reality; On March 3-4, the KOSPI and KOSDAC indices fell by 18.43% and 17.97%, respectively – the worst and the second worst global performance. Japan recorded a decrease of 6.57%, Taiwan 6.46%, and the Chinese Shenzhen index only 3.76%. US indices barely registered a decline of less than 0.35% combined.

Korea imports more than 70% of its energy from the Middle East and operates an export-led economy with high sensitivity to commodity shocks. When the American and Israeli attacks in Iran raised fears of closing the Strait of Hormuz, global risks were concentrated in Seoul with exceptional force. The 12.06% decline of the Kospi on Wednesday also surpassed the 12.02% decline recorded the day after September 11 – a limit that has been in place for 25 years.

What comes next?

The analyst expressed His cautious optimism They warn that the future path depends on geopolitical developments. One analyst noted that a continued siege of Hormuz would be counterproductive for Iran, reducing Tehran’s foreign exchange earnings while calling for more military response. Another said that the presence of a potential mediating party may be the main turning point. He stated that at the current levels of the index, the “buying case is strong”.

Mirae Asset has set a low KOSPI recovery target of 5,800. KeyWom Securities noted that the two-day sell-off completely absorbed the war risk premium.

What does this mean for digital currencies?

As for the crypto markets, BeanCrypto reported on Wednesday that the retail investor base in Korea showed some resilience during the collapse, as new tokens listed on Up-Bit and Bithumb posted double-digit gains despite the stock collapse. But Thursday’s recovery in stocks is likely to quickly reverse this trend.

Foreign and individual investors pumped more than 1.3 trillion won into stocks during a single morning session, as market strength drove liquidity into them. Crypto trading volumes in Korea have already fallen by more than 80% during the KOSPI’s 85% rise since President Lee’s election, and the strong V-shaped recovery in stocks threatens to drag down any crypto flows that emerged during the two-day panic.

The win dropped from 1,505 to almost 1,461. This partial recovery limits the attractiveness of currency hedging, which briefly boosted digital assets. The impact is already showing in the data: Bitcoin rose 6.4% in dollar terms in the last 24 hours, but posted gains of only about 5% globally up-bit – with the sudden recovery of the wind absorbing more than a percentage point of those gains.

If geopolitical risks continue to decline, the KOSPI may push towards the Mirai Asset target of 5,800. Individual Korean capital – which has historically been the most sensitive to volatility in global crypto markets – is likely to track equities rather than digital assets.