Escalating tensions in the Middle East, including Yemen’s Houthis claiming an attack on Saudi military facilities, sent Brent crude surging to $107. Rising energy costs and strong economic data led investors to bet the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again, pushing the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield to its highest level since 2004. Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Thursday as a result, with the Dow hitting a more than three-month low and technology stocks leading declines in the S&P 500.

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates overnight by 25 basis points to a 3.75-4.00% range, its first hike since July 2023, and signaled it could tighten again later this year. The move is expected to increase pressure on the Bank of Korea to keep pace. The BOK has already lifted its policy rate to 3% through back-to-back hikes in July and August.

South Korea’s KOSPI opened sharply higher on Monday, up 3.33% in early trade. The gains came even as tensions in the Middle East intensified, with technology stocks leading the advance. The PHLX semiconductor index rose 3.38% after OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra, fueling expectations of stronger demand for memory chips.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would stop trading with countries where the United States runs a deficit if the Federal Reserve does not cut interest rates. He argued that high rates put the United States at an unfair disadvantage. Separately, August jobs data came in stronger than expected, lifting market expectations for a Fed rate hike later this month.

Samsung Biologics said it will issue 2.27 million new shares at 1.322 million won each to raise 3 trillion won. The company plans to use the funds to acquire Switzerland-headquartered PolyPeptide Group and to invest in its sixth plant in Incheon. The offering equals 4.9% of outstanding shares and follows what it said would be the largest acquisition deal in Korea’s biotech industry.

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI opened higher on Tuesday, led by gains in chip stocks. As of 9:15 a.m., the index was up 2.39% at 7,144.85. Samsung Electronics rose 3.64% and SK hynix gained 6.38%. The tech-led advance came even after a drop in U.S. stocks overnight and as Middle East concerns kept oil prices high, adding to inflation worries.

South Korea’s CJ Group said it is targeting North America revenue of 12 trillion won ($8.48 billion) by 2028. The conglomerate plans to link its food, entertainment and beauty businesses to capitalize on rising demand for Korean culture and products. CJ said it generated more than 8 trillion won in North America revenue last year, up more than tenfold from 2017, and has made cumulative investment of 9.7 trillion won in the region. A CJ survey found about 30% of U.S. respondents expressed interest in Korean cultural products.

South Korea’s KOSPI has seen record-level volatility, leaving investor sentiment split between euphoria and anxiety. Foreign investors bought more than 7 trillion won of shares in a week, even as securities-firm client cash fell by more than 32 trillion won over two months and bank deposits rose by more than 24 trillion won in a month, suggesting a shift back toward lower-risk assets. Forced liquidations triggered by a sharp market drop reached 61.1 billion won on Wednesday, more than quadrupling and highlighting the fragility of leveraged bets.

The Korea Exchange (KRX) triggered a sell-side sidecar on Wednesday at around 10:55 a.m., halting program trading in KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes. The move was prompted after the KOSPI 200 Futures Index fell more than 5% for at least one minute. The KOSPI was down more than 4.5% on the day. Retail investors sold large-cap stocks including SK hynix amid concerns that heavy artificial intelligence spending may not support elevated valuations.