Korean stock market surges 11% and hits the circuit breaker!

Asian and Japanese stock markets surge.

On March 5th, Asia-Pacific markets opened sharply higher. As of the latest update, the Nikkei 225 index rose over 4%, and the KOSPI index in South Korea increased more than 11%. Due to the surge, the Korea Exchange triggered the KOSDAQ index circuit breaker in the morning, pausing automated trading for 5 minutes.

In news, Lee Eog-weon, Chairman of the Korea Financial Services Commission, said on Wednesday that South Korea is closely monitoring the stock market. If market volatility becomes excessive, they will actively deploy their 1,000 trillion won (approximately 470 billion RMB) market stabilization plan. He also stated that South Korea is watching for disruptive behaviors during increased market fluctuations and will strictly punish any violations.

On March 4th (Wednesday), the three major U.S. stock indexes all closed higher, led by tech stocks. As tensions between the U.S. and Iran develop, oil prices retreated from their previous surge, and concerns about slowing U.S. economic growth eased. Major stock indexes continued their gains from the previous trading session’s late rally.

At the close, the Dow rose 238.14 points, up 0.49%, to 48,739.41; the Nasdaq increased 290.79 points, up 1.29%, to 22,807.48; the S&P 500 gained 52.87 points, up 0.78%, to 6,869.50.

Tech stocks, especially chipmakers, supported the market. SanDisk, Micron Technology, and AMD each rose over 5%, while Broadcom and NVIDIA gained more than 1%.

Oil prices retreat from their surge

In the oil market, international benchmark Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contracts are trading near flat levels.

On Wednesday, strong economic data boosted investor sentiment. First, the ADP report showed that private sector employment in February increased more than expected. Additionally, the U.S. non-manufacturing sector saw better-than-expected growth last month, and inflation pressures eased.

In response to economic data, oil prices lost momentum. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the U.S. will announce a “series of measures” to support oil flow through the Persian Gulf. Brent crude and WTI prices declined for the first time since tensions in the Middle East escalated. Both closed well below their intraday highs on Tuesday.

President Trump also announced that the U.S. will provide risk insurance for all maritime trade passing through the Persian Gulf to encourage tankers to resume navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. His comments helped ease recent oil price gains.

Previously, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes—had stalled after Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders threatened to destroy any ships attempting passage.

Yellen also said that the 15% global tariffs announced by Trump last month will be implemented this week. However, she believes that U.S. tariffs will “fall back to the levels before Trump’s tariffs were imposed” within five months.

Tesla gains favor with U.S. banks

In sectors, the S&P 500’s eleven major sectors saw eight advance and three decline. Consumer discretionary and technology led gains with increases of 2.24% and 1.27%, respectively. Energy and consumer staples declined by 0.73% and 0.53%, respectively.

Most large tech stocks rose. Super Micro Semiconductor, Intel, and Micron Technology each gained over 5%. Amazon and Tesla rose more than 3%. ASML and Oracle increased over 2%. Meta, NVIDIA, TSMC, Broadcom, and Qualcomm each gained over 1%. Netflix and Microsoft saw modest gains, while Google-A and Apple declined slightly.

Tesla closed up 3.44%, with a trading volume of $27.148 billion. Tesla recently received a new confidence vote from U.S. banks. U.S. banks resumed coverage of Tesla stock with a “buy” rating. Analysts see Tesla as a “leader in the current autonomous driving space” and cite progress in autonomous and robotic technologies as reasons for upgrades. They also expect Tesla’s market share to grow under stricter EV regulations. The rating upgrade may boost market confidence in Tesla’s stock, which has recently been under pressure due to increased competition, declining EV sales, and weak sentiment in some AI-related stocks.

Financial stocks mostly rose. Wells Fargo, Barclays, American Express, and First Capital Financial each gained over 1%. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, MetLife, Charles Schwab, Hartford Insurance, Bank of America, U.S. Bancorp, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, BNY Mellon, Travelers Insurance, regional banks, Hartford, UBS, Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, BNY Mellon, and others saw slight increases, while Visa, Mizuho Financial, Mastercard, JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, and AIG declined slightly.

Most energy stocks fell. US Energy declined over 22%, ConocoPhillips and Apache fell over 2%, Chevron, Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, and Petrobras declined over 1%. Occidental Petroleum and BP saw slight declines, while Duke Energy, Imperial Oil, and Shell rose modestly.

Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) up 0.8%. NIO surged over 5%, Bilibili and Kingsoft Cloud gained over 3%, Tiger Securities and New Oriental rose over 2%, XPeng, NetEase, Futu, and Li Auto each gained over 1%. Vipshop, Huya, Pinduoduo, and Baidu rose slightly, while Tencent Music and JD.com declined slightly. Ctrip and Alibaba fell over 1%, iQiyi dropped over 2%.