Seoul: South Korean stocks rallied 6.6 percent Thursday as the U.S. administration's temporary pause of reciprocal tariffs on South Korea improved market sentiment. The Korean won was trading sharply higher against the U.S. dollar.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 151.36 points, or 6.6 percent, to close at 2,445.06, rebounding from the 17-month low the previous day. Shortly after the stock market opened, the bourse operator issued a sidecar order at 9:06 a.m., halting program purchasing for five minutes, after the KOSPI 200 futures increased 5 percent for more than one minute.

Trade volume was heavy at 661 million shares worth 10.9 trillion won (US$7.5 billion), with winners far outperforming losers 873 to 47. Foreigners and institutions purchased local shares worth 324.4 billion won and 676.2 billion won, respectively, while retail investors sold a combined 1.07 trillion won.

Overnight, Wall Street posted one of the best days since the global financial crisis in 2008, with the S and P 500 surging 9.5 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 7.87 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbing 12.16 percent. The rally followed U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to lower new tariffs on South Korea and other trading partners to 10 percent, a pause that will last for 90 days. This decision was made as these countries have engaged U.S. trade officials for negotiations and have not retaliated against the reciprocal tariffs.

Meanwhile, Trump increased duties on China to 125 percent following Beijing's announcement of a plan to raise tariffs on U.S. goods to 84 percent in retaliation. "Concerns turned to relief after Trump announced a 90-day pause of reciprocal tariffs for countries other than China," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, stated. "Shares related to semiconductor, defense, electricity, and mobile phone components led the KOSPI's rebound," he added.

In Seoul, market leader Samsung Electronics rose 6.42 percent to 56,400 won, while chipmaker SK hynix climbed 11.03 percent to 183,200 won. Battery maker LG Energy Solution increased 11.31 percent to 349,500 won, tracking Tesla's rise overnight. Hyundai Motor advanced 5.06 percent to 187,000 won. Major shipbuilders HD Hyundai Heavy and Hanwha Ocean went up 10.39 percent and 6.56 percent to 324,000 won and 73,100 won, respectively.

Container shipper HMM rose 8.03 percent to 19,110 won, and defense firm Hanwha Aerospace climbed 7.09 percent to 740,000 won. Financial shares also gained, with KB Financial jumping 7.05 percent to 75,900 won and Shinhan Financial rising 5.5 percent to 46,000 won. Kakao, the operator of the country's leading mobile messenger, gained 7.67 percent to 40,000 won. The local currency was quoted at 1,456.4 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 27.7 won from the previous session.