KOSPI surges 4.5% as Seoul pauses program buying ahead of SK Hynix earnings

South Korea's KOSPI jumped 4.53% to 5,717.30 on Tuesday morning, prompting the Korea Exchange to halt program buying for five minutes. The rally was driven by a rebound in AI-linked chip stocks overnight in the US, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics leading gains in Seoul. However, the index erased those gains within two sessions, remaining nearly 40% below its June peak. The rebound hinges on upcoming earnings from SK Hynix and Samsung, which together account for about half the index weight.