KOSPI rises 7% as Iran thaw, Samsung pact and Nvidia lift chips

South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 7% on Thursday in Seoul, reversing earlier losses as easing U.S.-Iran tensions, a last-minute Samsung wage deal and Nvidia’s strong earnings lifted semiconductor shares.

The gain ended a multi-day slide after the benchmark fell about 9.35% following an all-time high above 8,000 points last Friday. Other Asia-Pacific markets tracked Wall Street gains and supported the rebound in Seoul.

Earlier in the week, markets were unsettled when President Donald Trump signaled possible strikes on Iran. He later said Washington was in the “final stages” of negotiations with Tehran, reducing near-term geopolitical risk.

Domestically, Samsung Electronics and its labor union reached a wage agreement late Wednesday, suspending an 18-day strike scheduled to begin Thursday. Samsung shares rose more than 6% and memory-chip rival SK Hynix climbed about 11%.

Nvidia reported quarterly revenue of $81.62 billion, up 85% year-on-year. The results highlighted continued demand for memory and chips used in artificial intelligence data centers and supported South Korea’s major chipmakers and related suppliers.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix now account for about 42% of the KOSPI, a record share that makes the index sensitive to moves in the chip sector. Samsung is up roughly 130% year-to-date and SK Hynix about 170%.

Global banks including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan have raised their year-end KOSPI targets in recent weeks, citing the heavy weight of tech names and improving semiconductor fundamentals.

Market participants pointed to lower geopolitical risk, the avoidance of major industrial action at Samsung and stronger-than-expected chip earnings as factors that drove heavy buying in large-cap technology stocks and lifted the broader market.