Semiconductor companies led the advance in South Korea's primary Kospi Index, which jumped as much as 8% in early trading. The surge followed reports that the United States is close to finalizing a deal with Iran to end the conflict.

Friday's powerful upswing once more highlighted the extreme volatility that has become a defining feature of the nation's $4.3 trillion stock market. The Korea Exchange temporarily suspended program trading for the Kospi as futures prices soared. South Korean equities were among the top performers in the Asia-Pacific region after former President Trump unexpectedly withdrew threats of military action against Iran, igniting a rally on Wall Street and boosting risk assets globally.

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc shares each skyrocketed more than 9% as investors flocked back to these stocks, which are viewed as essential for the expansion of artificial intelligence.

Market turbulence has increased in recent months, with over half of the Kospi's total market value held by Samsung and SK Hynix. The rising use of leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to these two chipmakers, which magnify daily price changes, has also played a part in creating wider market fluctuations.

"The core outlook and the inherent robustness of South Korea's technology sector indicate that the country's pivotal role in memory semiconductors is unlikely to be supplanted in the near future," stated Indrani De, the global head of investment research at FTSE Russell. "Samsung and SK Hynix control the high bandwidth memory market," she further noted.

The Korea Exchange activated market protection mechanisms multiple times this week, such as imposing a 20-minute trading halt on Monday, as local stocks swung dramatically from one extreme to the other.