Up 11%! Korean stock market hits circuit breaker!

Japanese and Korean stock markets surge.

On March 5, Asia-Pacific markets opened sharply higher. As of the time this is published, the Nikkei 225 index is up more than 4%, and South Korea’s KOSPI index is up more than 11%. Due to the surge, the Korea Exchange activated the KOSDAQ index circuit breaker mechanism in the early trading session, pausing algorithmic trading for 5 minutes.

On the news front, Lee Eog-weon, Chairman of the Korea Financial Services Commission, said on Wednesday that South Korea is closely monitoring the stock market. If market volatility becomes excessive, it will actively deploy its 100 trillion won (about RMB 470 billion) market stabilization plan. He said South Korea is closely monitoring potential market-disrupting behaviors that may occur during periods of intensifying stock market volatility and will severely punish any violations.

On local time March 4 (Wednesday), all three major U.S. stock indices closed higher, with technology stocks leading the gains. As developments in the U.S.-Iran war situation led to oil prices falling back from their surge momentum, concerns about slower U.S. economic growth eased somewhat, and major stock indexes continued the momentum from the close of the previous trading day.

By the market close that day, the Dow rose 238.14 points, or 0.49%, to 48,739.41; the Nasdaq rose 290.79 points, or 1.29%, to 22,807.48; and the S&P 500 rose 52.87 points, or 0.78%, to 6,869.50.

Technology stocks, especially the chip sector, provided support for the broader market. Among them, SanDisk, Micron Technology, and AMD rose more than 5%, while Broadcom and Nvidia rose more than 1%.

Oil price surge loses momentum

In the oil market, the prices of international benchmark Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are both currently trading near flat.

On Wednesday, several strong economic data releases boosted investor sentiment. First, the ADP report said that in February, private-sector companies added more jobs than expected. In addition, the U.S. non-manufacturing sector recorded growth that exceeded expectations last month, and inflationary pressure eased.

While responding to the economic data, oil prices also lost their momentum. On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will announce a “series of measures” to support oil flows through the Persian Gulf. On Wednesday, Brent and West Texas Intermediate prices fell for the first time since tensions in the Middle East escalated. Both closed far below their intraday highs on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Trump said the U.S. would provide risk insurance for all maritime trade passing through the Persian Gulf, to encourage tankers to resume navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Driven by his remarks, the recent rally in oil prices has eased.

Previously, after commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard warned they would destroy any ships attempting to pass through the route, oil tanker transportation through the Strait of Hormuz—the world’s most important crude oil shipping channel—had come to a standstill.

Bessent also said on Wednesday that the 15% global tariffs announced by Trump at the end of last month would be implemented this week. However, he believes U.S. tariff rates “will fall back to their level before Trump’s tariff policy” within “five months,” before the Supreme Court overturns Trump’s tariffs.

Tesla wins favor from U.S. banks

In terms of sectors, among the eleven major sectors of the S&P 500, eight rose and three fell. The consumer discretionary sector and technology sector led the gains, up 2.24% and 1.27% respectively, while the energy sector and consumer staples sector led the declines, down 0.73% and 0.53% respectively.

Most large-cap tech stocks rose. Super Micro? Semiconductors, Intel, and Micron Technology rose more than 5%, while Amazon and Tesla rose more than 3%. ASML and Oracle rose more than 2%, and Meta, Nvidia, TSMC, Broadcom, and Qualcomm rose more than 1%. Netflix and Microsoft edged higher, while Google-A and Apple fell slightly.

Tesla ended up 3.44%, with trading volume of $27.148 billion. Tesla has just won a new round of confidence votes from U.S. banks. U.S. Bancorp resumed coverage of the electric vehicle maker’s stock ratings and gave it a “Buy” rating. A U.S. Bancorp analyst said Tesla is “the leader in the current consumer autonomous driving space,” pointing to its progress in autonomous driving and robotics as reasons for the upgrade, and expects Tesla’s market share to improve under a stricter electric vehicle regulatory environment. The rating upgrade may help bolster market confidence in Tesla’s stock, which has recently been under pressure due to intensifying competition, declining EV sales, and weak sentiment in some AI-related stocks.

Most financial stocks rose. Wells Fargo, Barclays, American Express, and First Capital Financial rose more than 1%, while Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, MetLife, Charles Schwab, Hartford Insurance, U.S. Bancorp, U.S. Bancorp, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, BNY Mellon, Travelers Insurance, regional banks, Hartford, UBS, and Mastercard rose slightly, while Visa, Mizuho Financial, Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, and American International Group fell slightly.

Most energy stocks fell. U.S. Energy fell more than 22%, ConocoPhillips and Apache fell more than 2%, while Chevron, Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, and Petrobras fell more than 1%. Occidental Petroleum and BP fell slightly, while Duke Energy, Imperial Oil, and Shell rose modestly.

Most popular China concept stocks rose. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) closed up 0.8%. NIO rose more than 5%, Bilibili and Kingsoft Cloud rose more than 3%, Tiger Securities and New Oriental rose more than 2%, XPeng, NetEase, Futu, and Li Auto rose more than 1%. Vipshop, Huya, Pinduoduo, and Baidu edged higher, while Tencent Music and JD.com edged lower. Ctrip and Alibaba fell more than 1%, and iQiyi fell more than 2%.