[Market Focus] Defense Stocks Weaken on Hopes for Early End to U.S.-Iran War

As expectations for an early end to the U.S.-Iran war spread, shares of defense stocks, including Hanwha Aerospace, are trading lower on the domestic stock market on the morning of March 20.

As of 10:38 a.m. on this day, Hanwha Aerospace was trading at 1,326,000 won, down 3.56% from the previous session. At the same time, LIG Nex1 fell by 2.85%. Other major defense stocks such as Hanwha Systems (-1.84%), Hyundai Rotem (-2.42%), and Daesung Hi-Tech (-6.79%) were also declining.

This is interpreted as the aftermath of a remark by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the war could end sooner than expected. Overnight, Prime Minister Netanyahu said at his second press conference since the outbreak of the war, "Iran cannot enrich uranium and has lost the ability to manufacture ballistic missiles," adding, "The Iran war could end sooner than people think."

As a result, profit-taking is believed to be occurring, particularly in defense stocks. U.S. President Donald Trump also recently revealed during a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that he told Prime Minister Netanyahu not to launch additional attacks on Iran's oil and gas facilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.