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SEOUL, February 24 (AJP) - Korean stocks extended their upward momentum Tuesday despite a choppy start, shrugging off overnight losses on Wall Street driven by tariff uncertainty and rising Middle East tensions.

Seoul’s benchmark KOSPI advanced 1.42 percent to a fresh all-time high of 5,929.14 as of 11:15 a.m., while the KOSPI 200 gained 1.66 percent to 880.21.

Overnight in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7 percent, the Nasdaq dropped 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 declined 1.0 percent, reflecting caution over trade frictions and concerns about AI-driven industry disruption. Despite the pullback, most Asian markets remained resilient.

Institutional investors led the rally, piling into large-cap shares as foreign and domestic investment banks raised their targets for the main index. Nomura Securities recently projected the KOSPI could climb to 8,000.

Domestic institutions bought more than 1 trillion won worth of shares, offsetting net retail selling of 945.2 billion won.

Semiconductor heavyweights remained firm. Samsung Electronics rose 0.7 percent to 194,400 won, while SK hynix advanced 2.1 percent to 971,000 won, sustaining momentum in memory-related stocks.

Sector performance was mixed. Telecommunications equipment led gains, climbing 5.8 percent. Hanwha Vision surged 23.9 percent on expectations that its semiconductor equipment subsidiary would benefit from continued high-bandwidth memory investment. CJ ENM also gained 5.75 percent.

In contrast, petrochemical shares weakened. Hanwha Solutions fell 2.3 percent amid uncertainty over the government’s upcoming restructuring package for the sector.

Risk-off sentiment was evident in commodities. Gold jumped 2.84 percent to $5,225.6 per ounce, while silver climbed 5.13 percent to $86.6, reflecting safe-haven demand following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed deadline to Iran over its nuclear program.

In currency markets, the won weakened slightly, with the dollar up 0.5 won to 1,446.5 won.

Across Asia, markets were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.6 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.6 percent.
Joonha Yoo 기자 joonhayoo94@ajupress.com

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