South Korea Stocks Rally on Election, Tariff Deadline Hits

South Korea's benchmark index jumped to a 10-month high and the won strengthened after liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung won the presidency, raising hopes of fiscal stimulus and reforms. Meanwhile, global markets were focused on the US tariff deadline, as only the UK has agreed a preliminary deal and other partners, including Japan, remain in limbo. European stock futures pointed to a slight rise ahead of key PMI releases and the ECB’s expected interest rate cut on Thursday.

Equities

The FTSE 100 rose 0.2% on Tuesday, supported by gains in defence and energy stocks. Chemring Group climbed 6.7% after announcing a record-high order book for the six months to 30 April, lifting the stock to a near four-year high. BP added 0.6% and Shell rose 1.7% as oil prices moved higher, helping to support the broader index. On the other hand, mining stocks came under pressure, with industrial and precious metal miners both falling more than 1% as copper and gold prices slipped.

GSK dropped 2.1% after Berenberg downgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’. Pearson fell 6.6% after its Australian rival IDP Education forecast a fall in annual profit, dragging sentiment in the education sector. The FTSE 250 slipped 0.1%, reflecting weaker performance among mid-cap names.

In the US, major indices closed higher, helped by gains in chipmakers and optimism around upcoming trade talks. The S&P 500 climbed 0.58% to 5,970.37, while the Nasdaq rose 0.81% to 19,398.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.51%, ending the day at 42,519.64.

Nvidia rose 2.9% and Broadcom gained 3.2%, pushing the technology sector up 1.5%. Broadcom hit a fresh record high after starting shipments of a new networking chip designed to support AI infrastructure. Nvidia was lifted by speculation around upcoming discussions between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with investors hopeful of some easing on chip restrictions.

Wells Fargo closed 1.2% higher and gained another 2% in after-hours trading after the Federal Reserve announced the removal of a $1.95 trillion asset cap imposed in 2018. Dollar General surged 15.8% after the discount retailer raised its full-year sales outlook, having topped quarterly sales expectations.

Pinterest rose 3.8% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’. Reddit slipped 1.1% following a significant outage that affected over 29,000 users, according to Downdetector. Kenvue fell 6%, the largest drop on the S&P 500, after telling investors that retailers in the US and China are reducing inventory due to tariff uncertainty.

Forex & Commodities

The US dollar was broadly steady as markets awaited the ADP employment report later in the day and monthly payrolls data on Friday. It rose 0.2% to 144.23 yen, recovering from earlier losses after Tuesday’s stronger-than-expected JOLTS job openings report. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.1% at 99.296. Against the euro and sterling, the dollar held firm, with the euro trading at $1.1370 and sterling at $1.3514. The Swiss franc was unchanged at 0.8241 per dollar.

The Australian dollar slipped 0.1% to $0.6457 following GDP data showing the economy barely grew in the first quarter. In Asia, the South Korean won firmed 0.2% to 1,374.54 per dollar following liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung’s presidential election victory. The Chinese offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1915 per dollar.

Spot gold was steady at $3,351.49 an ounce, while US gold futures held at $3,375. Analysts said a recovery in US job openings data had helped limit gains in safe-haven demand. Spot silver eased 0.3% to $34.40, while platinum gained 0.3% to $1,076.86. Palladium slipped 0.9% to $1,001.42.

Brent crude slipped 0.4% to $65.40 a barrel and US WTI crude also fell 0.4% to $63.16. Traders weighed rising output from OPEC+ against continued concerns over Canadian wildfires, which have shut in around 350,000 barrels per day of supply.