South Korean shares clock best rally in two weeks as impeachment ruling date lowers political risk

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose more than 1.5% on Tuesday to post their biggest daily jump in two weeks on news that the long-awaited ruling on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol would be delivered this week, reducing political uncertainty.

The benchmark KOSPI closed up 40.27 points, or 1.62%, at 2,521.39, marking its biggest daily rise since March 17.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court, which is reviewing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, will announce on April 4 its decision on whether to remove him from office permanently or reinstate him.

“The announcement raised hopes of reduced political uncertainty,” said Park Kwang-nam, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo vetoed a revision to the Commercial Act, which was seen to help resolve the so-called “Korea discount”, a tendency of lower valuation for South Korean stocks than global peers.

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The KOSPI, which started the session higher, cut gains to 0.5% after the veto but then rallied as much as 2% after the impeachment ruling date was set.

South Korea’s March exports grew for a second month but missed market expectations, suggesting a softening outlook as a global trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs raises uncertainty for manufacturers.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.73% and peer SK Hynix gained 3.30%, but battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 1.94%.

Among other index heavyweights, automakers, e-commerce firms and biopharmaceutical stocks rose.

Of the total 938 traded issues, 716 shares advanced, while 182 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 389.8 billion won ($265.03 million).

The won was quoted 0.12% higher at 1,471.9 per U.S. dollar on the onshore settlement platform. It jumped as much as 0.66% soon after the announcement of the ruling date.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.1 basis points (bps) to 2.578%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.5 bps to 2.787%.