The benchmark Kospi rose 119.48 points, or 3.02 percent, to finish at 4,073.24 on Monday, clawing back a slice of last week's global tech sell-off as dividend-tax hopes and signs of an end to the U.S. federal shutdown drew buyers.
Trading volume reached 334 million shares worth 16.5 trillion won. Gainers beat decliners 804 to 98 on the main board. Kosdaq rose 1.32 percent to 888.35. Foreign investors were net sellers of 155 billion won, while individuals offloaded 1.16 trillion won; domestic institutions absorbed both flows with 1.3 trillion won of net purchases.
Bank and insurance names led the advance. KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and Samsung Life posted outsized gains on expectations that lawmakers will cap dividend separate taxation below the finance ministry's initial proposal. Analysts at Mirae Asset Securities said the session looked like a policy rally layered on top of a short-term bounce in battered large caps.
Chips join, but do not lead
Samsung Electronics added 2.76 percent to 100,600 won, returning to the psychologically watched 100,000-won line. SK hynix climbed 4.48 percent to 606,000 won. Both recovered with the global semiconductor complex after investors repriced AI-exposed names. Still, the day's leadership skewed toward shareholder-return stories in financials and holding companies such as SK Square, which tracks investor appetite for SK Group payouts.
That sector split matters for index construction. Samsung and SK hynix carry heavy Kospi weights, but Monday's point contribution also reflected a broad lift in midsize financials and brokerages tied to trading activity. Kiwoom Securities and other retail-heavy names rose with volumes, a pattern desks often see when local investors return after a volatile offshore week.
Macro crosscurrents
Overnight U.S. headlines suggested progress toward reopening the federal government after the longest shutdown on record. Korean fund managers said that reduced tail risk for dollar liquidity and emerging-market flows, even as foreigners continued to sell locally. Bond markets reflected a mild risk-on tone: three-year Korean Treasury yields fell 2.9 basis points to 2.865 percent at the close.
The won firmed 5.5 won to 1,451.4 per dollar at the 3:30 p.m. reference. Exporters still dominate Korea's equity earnings pool, but Monday's tape read as a domestic-policy story first and a global-tech story second.
What the week holds
Traders head into a heavy legislative calendar. The National Assembly's tax subcommittee begins line-by-line review of corporate and dividend tax changes, while budget committees hear ministries on a record 728 trillion-won spending plan. Equity strategists said the index may trade in a 4,000–4,100 band while those debates play out, with financials sensitive to each headline on dividend eligibility.
Derivatives desks reported steady interest in near-dated calls after the sharp one-day rebound. Few portrayed the move as a trend reversal by itself; rather, they described it as relief that Korean policymaking could still deliver market-friendly surprises even as foreign funds trimmed exposure for a seventh consecutive session in cash equities.