Japan and South Korea Stocks Open Lower but Rise, Nikkei Breaks 72,000 for First Time, SK Hynix Rises Over 5.6%, Market Cap Surpasses Samsung Electronics

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 22, Japanese and South Korean stock markets fell before rebounding. Dragged down by news over the weekend that US-Iran negotiations had hit a stalemate, both Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened lower. However, market sentiment recovered rapidly in the afternoon following reports of substantial progress in the talks. The Nikkei 225 index surged past 72,000 points for the first time, hitting a new intraday record high, while South Korea's KOSPI rebounded from an early loss of nearly 2% to finish in positive territory, reclaiming the 9,100-point threshold.

[Source: TradingView]

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose for the eighth consecutive trading day on Monday, at one point surging over 1,200 points from Friday's close in morning trading to hit the key 72,000-point mark for the first time. It closed at 72,354.13 points, up approximately 1.55%. The Topix index finished at 4,094.54 points, up 1.23%.

On the news front, Japanese media reported that the Japanese government plans to set a public-private investment target of approximately 370 trillion yen by fiscal year 2040 across 17 strategic sectors, including AI and semiconductors. Boosted by this, Tokyo Electron rose over 3% and SoftBank gained over 1.8%, driving the broader market higher. Market participants noted that investors continued to buy due to the fear of missing out (FOMO), with AI and semiconductor-related stocks becoming the main targets for capital inflows.

[Source: TradingView]

In South Korea, the KOSPI index fell over 1% early in the session and at one point slumped nearly 2%. Following reports of progress in the US-Iran negotiations, the index rebounded sharply, rising over 2% intraday, before closing at 9,114.55 points, up about 0.69%. Heavyweight stocks showed mixed performance: SK Hynix closed up approximately 5.61% at 2.919 million won; Samsung Electronics edged down 0.14% to 353,500 won. Excluding Samsung Electronics' preferred shares, SK Hynix's intraday market capitalization surpassed that of Samsung Electronics, making it South Korea's most valuable company. LG Electronics, boosted by news of an executive delegation visiting Nvidia's headquarters, surged over 14% at one point during the day before finishing 7.57% higher.

The core driver of the day's movements in Japanese and South Korean equities was the news flow surrounding the US-Iran negotiations. According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, Iran and the US reached an agreement document after 18 hours of talks; Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi noted that major progress had been made regarding oil export waivers and asset unfreezing; a joint statement from mediators Qatar and Pakistan also described the progress as "encouraging." Consequently, international oil prices retreated from intraday highs, with Brent crude falling below $80 per barrel. Risk appetite, which had been pressured by expectations of escalating tensions in the Middle East, recovered rapidly, driving a collective late-day surge in Asia-Pacific stock markets.