U.S. rebound sparks rise in Korea’s stock markets
Korea’s main stock exchange rebounded yesterday after a sharp dip the previous day. The Kospi ended at 1,426.93, up 19.56 points, or 1.4 percent, largely led by shipbuilding and steel shares.“Buoyed by the U.S. rebound, bargain hunters snapped up large caps such as banks and shipyards,” said Park Seok-hyun, an analyst at Kyobo Securities.
U.S. stocks rebounded Wednesday as investors bought financial shares. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 0.9 percent.
Blue chips were mostly strong, except Hynix Semiconductor, which edged down 0.2 percent. Technology bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.3 percent to 586,000 won ($620). Posco jumped 4.7 percent to post a record-high price, bolstered by steel product price hikes. Posco’s smaller rival Hyundai Steel also added 4.1 percent.
Top shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 4.8 percent, and its competitor, Daewoo Marine and Shipbuilding, also advanced 4.1 percent.
Financial shares performed well, too. No. 1 lender Kookmin Bank rose 0.9 percent, Shinhan Financial Group advanced 2.7 percent and Woori Finance Holdings gained 1.8 percent. Hyundai Motor was up 0.7 percent while top mobile service provider SK Telecom was flat.
Total traded volume was 250.4 million shares worth 2.6 trillion won, with advancing shares crushing decliners, 565 to 183.
The secondary Kosdaq advanced 11.39 points, or 1.9 percent, to end at 624.7. NHN, operator of the nation’s most popular portal Naver, added 1.7 percent, while Hanaro Telecom, the second-largest broadband Internet service provider, rose 3.9 percent.
Traded volume was 755.3 million shares, worth 2.1 trillion won. Winning shares beat losing shares 651 to 251.
By Seo Ji-eun Staff Writer [spring@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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