South Korean Stocks Close Mixed After U.S.-Iran Ceasefire, With 818 Stocks Rising

-Iran ceasefire and higher oil prices. The benchmark KOSPI fell 16.56 points, or 0.2 percent, to 8,394.65 after touching an intraday high of 8,525.53, Yonhap reported. Trading volume reached 368.17 million shares valued at 42.26 trillion won, or US$27.35 billion.

Gainers outnumbered losers 818 to 87. Institutions bought a net 2.93 trillion won of shares and individual investors purchased a net 4.59 trillion won, while foreign investors sold a net 7.73 trillion won. Tech shares led the decline.

Samsung Electronics dropped 4.86 percent to 323,000 won. SK hynix fell 1.68 percent to 2.62 million won, and SK Square lost 4.65 percent to 1.64 million won. The two chipmakers had announced plans to expand memory production capacity, which briefly supported prices in late trading before the gains faded.

Battery stocks advanced. LG Energy Solution rose 20.81 percent to 400,500 won, and Samsung SDI gained 12.53 percent to 512,000 won. The Korean won weakened to 1,544.45 per U.S. , down 12.5 won from the prior session.

The three-year Treasury yield rose 1.1 basis points to 3.733 percent, and the five-year government bond yield increased 1.9 basis points to 3.965 percent. "The agreement between the United States and Iran to halt hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks helped ease near-term geopolitical risks, but lingering uncertainty continues to weigh on investor sentiment," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said.

He added that government plans to expand AI infrastructure offered limited near-term support to chip stocks facing pressure from semiconductor price concerns.

U.S. markets closed mixed on Friday, with the S&P 500 down 0.05 percent, the Nasdaq composite off 0.24 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.09 percent.