Just over a week ago, the news of the truce agreement between Trump and Iran caused a radical shift in Asian markets. The interesting part is that as soon as fears of a global energy crisis dissipated, risk appetite literally exploded everywhere, especially in South Korea.

The Kospi surged nearly 6.2% in that move, leading the other Asian indices. It was quite impressive to see how Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix jumped more than 9% each. These semiconductor giants were the biggest beneficiaries of the change in sentiment.

What caught my attention the most was what happened with the Kospi 200 futures. They rose more than 6%, and the volume was so aggressive that the stock exchange had to temporarily pause algorithmic trading to prevent the algorithms from going even more out of control. It’s one of those moments where algorithmic trading becomes a market limiting factor rather than a facilitator.

Meanwhile, the South Korean won appreciated 1.9% against the dollar. On the fixed income side, 10-year government bond futures rose 120 basis points, but here’s the interesting part: 3-year bonds’ yields fell to 3.3%. Why? Because the drop in crude oil eased inflationary pressures, reducing expectations that the Bank of Korea would raise interest rates.

All of this happened just before the central bank’s rate policy meeting that Friday. The combination of these movements in algorithmic trading, bonds, and stocks reflects how a single geopolitical agreement can completely reconfigure market expectations. Algorithmic trading amplified the moves but also showed its limits when volatility spiraled out of control.