South Korean stocks surged more than 5% at market close on Tuesday, rebounding from the previous session's sharp decline amid bargain hunting, while US President Donald Trump's comments eased fears of a prolonged conflict with Iran.
Trump told CBS News earlier in the day that he thought the "war was very complete, pretty much," adding that the war could be a "short-term excursion."
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or Kospi rose by 280.72 points, or 5.35%, to finish at 5,532.59. The Kosdaq also increased by 35.4 points, or 3.21%, to end at 1,137.68.
The Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar to halt program buying on the country's primary stock market Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, at 9.06 am Seoul time on Tuesday.
The move came as investors scooped up stocks at a bargain after Monday's sharp decline, according to a same-day notice on the exchange.
Buy orders were halted for five minutes after the KOSPI 200 futures surged 6.14%, or 47.40 points, to hit 818.65
In economic news, the Bank of Korea on Tuesday revised South Korea's real gross domestic product contraction to a milder pace of 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the previous quarter, compared wth the advance estimate of a 0.3% decline.
The Q4 contraction occurred after GDP rose at a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in Q3 2025 and was still the weakest quarterly growth since Q1 of the same year.
On an annual basis, the South Korean economy expanded 1.6% in Q4, slower than the 1.8% yearly growth in the previous quarter.
In corporate news, LG CNS (KRX:064400) invested in Santa Clara, California-based humanoid robot maker Dexmate through its corporate venture arm LG Technology Ventures, LG CNS said in a Tuesday release.
The financial aspects of the investment remained undisclosed.
The recent investment strengthens LG CNS's robot hardware portfolio and supports its full-stack RX service, which combines hardware, robot foundation models, and operation/learning platforms. LG CNS is also carrying out several proof-of-concept and expanding partnerships to commercialize industry-ready humanoid robots.
Shares of LG CNS rose more than 3% at market close.
