SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks surged nearly 7 percent on Wednesday amid the eased Middle East tensions that triggered buy-side sidecars in the morning session.
The benchmark KOSPI soared 377.56 points, or 6.87 percent, to finish at 5,872.34, and the smaller KOSDAQ jumped 53.12 points, or 5.12 percent, to close at 1,089.85.
The stock market staged a massive relief rally following news of a two-week ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
During the morning session, the Korea Exchange activated buy-side sidecars on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets.
When the KOSPI 200 futures rise or fall by more than 5 percent for at least 1 minute, the KOSPI sidecar is triggered to halt program trading orders for five minutes.
The KOSDAQ sidecar is issued when the KOSDAQ 150 futures rise or fall by more than 6 percent and the KOSDAQ 150 index rises or falls by over 3 percent simultaneously for at least 1 minute.
Foreign and institutional investors spearheaded the market turnaround, while retail investors dumped shares to lock in profits.
The South Korean won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate finished its daytime session at 1,470.6 won per dollar as of 3:30 p.m. local time, down 33.6 won from the previous day's daytime close.
It marked the lowest daytime close in about a month since March 11.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics and memory chip giant SK Hynix skyrocketed 7.12 percent and 12.77 percent each.
The country's top automaker Hyundai Motor spiked 7.40 percent, but the largest battery maker LG Energy Solution decreased 0.61 percent.
The No. 1 biopharmaceutical contract manufacturer Samsung Biologics rose 0.76 percent, but the leading aerospace and defense company Hanwha Aerospace retreated 3.45 percent.
The biggest shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries mounted 3.09 percent, and the energy infrastructure leader Doosan Enerbility was up 6.64 percent. ■
