The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) closed at a near four-year high Wednesday, as investors shrugged off President Trump’s fresh tariff threats on copper, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
The KOSPI rose 18-point-79 points, or zero-point-six percent, to close at three thousand-133-point-74, the highest in three years and ten months.
Trump on Tuesday unveiled a 50-percent tariff on copper and warned of further duties on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. A day earlier he gave South Korea, Japan, and others until August 1 to strike trade deals or face higher tariffs as outlined in formal letters he sent.
Defense and financial stocks were some of the day’s biggest winners with Hanwha Aerospace rising four-point-29 percent, LIG Nex1 rocketing eight-point-59 percent, Mirae Asset Securities increasing six-point-76 percent and Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance rising three-point-35 percent.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ gained six-point-12 points, or zero-point-78 percent, to close at 790-point-36.