Kospi retakes 7,000 on strong foreign buying

Seoul stocks reclaimed the 7,000 mark on Wednesday, with the Kospi surging more than 8 percent at one point as foreign investors stepped up buying amid a rebound in risk appetite.

As of 2:30 p.m., the Kospi was trading around 7,280, up 6.2 percent from the previous close.

The index opened 3.3 percent higher at 7,082.9 before climbing as much as 8.2 percent to an intraday high of 7,424.18.

The early surge triggered a buy-side sidecar, halting program trading for five minutes.

Kospi 200 futures we ...