South Korean stock market soars, Samsung reaches preliminary agreement with labor union.

South Korean stock market soared, Samsung Electronics reached a preliminary agreement with the union, allowing the world's largest memory chip maker to avoid a strike crisis at the last minute. The benchmark Kospi index rose 6.2% on Thursday, with Samsung's stock price soaring nearly 7%. SK Hynix also rose 8.3% at one point. After futures prices surged, the Korea Exchange briefly suspended program trading for the Kospi and small-cap Kosdaq indices. Chip-related stocks were also boosted by Nvidia's better-than-expected financial report. The South Korean stock market had fallen in the two previous trading days due to rising yields denting the popularity of tech stocks and the risk of strikes casting a shadow over Samsung's stock price.