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Kospi hits new intraday high despite faltering hopes for U.S.-Iran peace talks

Published: 27 Apr. 2026, 10:09 Updated: 27 Apr. 2026, 10:22

The digital board inside Hana Bank's main branch in Jung District, central Seoul, shows the Kospi at 6,542.05 on April 27. [YONHAP]

Seoul's shares opened sharply higher with the Kospi setting a new intraday record, breaking above the 6,557 point, on early Monday.

The benchmark Kospi rose 69.95 points, or 1.08 percent, to 6,545.58 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Kospi sat at 6,557.78 at 9:01 a.m., topping its previous intraday high of 6,557.76 set on Thursday.

Stock indexes on Wall Street closed mixed on Friday, as investors pinned hopes that peace talks between the U.S. and Iran would make progress during the Iranian foreign minister's second visit to Pakistan last week.

But such hopes were dampened after U.S. President Donald Trump said he canceled U.S. negotiators' trip to Pakistan scheduled during the weekend.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is headed for Russia, according to Iran's state media, and is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Also over the weekend, a gunman opened fire near a security checkpoint at the correspondents' dinner event at the White House, and Trump was evacuated from the event.

But the series of events has not rattled the financial markets, as investors have now turned their focus to policy decisions from central banks in major economies and the upcoming earnings release from big tech companies, including Microsoft, Apple and Meta, according to Hana Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-soo.

Investors are also closely watching the upcoming earnings season from local companies, Lee added.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares traded higher.

Samsung Electronics added 0.91 percent, while SK hynix rose 4.83 percent.

Hyundai Motor moved up 0.78 percent and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries advanced 1.79 percent, while Hanwha Aerospace inched down 0.68 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,477 won against the U.S. dollar, up 7.5 won from the previous session.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]