Seoul: South Korean stocks opened with significant gains Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily halted reciprocal tariffs on South Korea and other trading partners, excluding China. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 118.11 points, or 5.15 percent, reaching 2,411.81 in the initial 15 minutes of trading, marking a sharp recovery from the 17-month low seen the previous day.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the substantial increase prompted the bourse operator to issue a sidecar order at 9:06 a.m., pausing program purchasing for five minutes after the KOSPI 200 futures rose 5 percent for over one minute. The positive market sentiment followed a strong performance on Wall Street, where major indices posted gains reminiscent of the upturns during the global financial crisis in 2008. The S and P 500 surged 9.5 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 7.87 percent, and the Nasdaq composite rose 12.16 percent.

The rally was spurred by Trump's announcement of reducing new tariffs on South Korea and other countries to 10 percent for a 90-day pause, as they engaged with U.S. trade officials for negotiations and refrained from retaliating against the reciprocal tariffs. In contrast, Trump raised duties on China to 125 percent after Beijing's plan to increase tariffs on U.S. goods to 84 percent in retaliation.

In the Seoul market, major companies showed strong performances. Samsung Electronics increased by 5.66 percent, while SK hynix rose 12.55 percent. LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor saw gains of 5.57 percent and 7.13 percent, respectively. Shipbuilders HD Hyundai Heavy and Hanwha Ocean climbed 7.16 percent and 6.27 percent. Additionally, top container shipper HMM went up by 6.33 percent, and KB Financial rose 5.08 percent.

The Korean won also strengthened against the U.S. dollar, trading at 1,457 won as of 9:15 a.m., a rise of 27.1 won from the previous session.