Korean stocks survive Wall Street declines
Korean stocks rebounded yesterday by 15.4 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 1,917.83 yesterday. Despite Wall Street’s decline on Tuesday, the index opened higher, driven by the buying of institutional investors.“It’s optimistic that the Kospi has survived the negative impact of a Wall Street pullback. But shares are expected to fall for a while until the U.S. Federal Reserve decides to lower interest rates,” Won Jong-hyuk, an analyst at SK Securities, said.
Telecommunication shares recorded the biggest gains, led by SK Telecom. The nation’s leading mobile phone operator jumped 4.8 percent on recent news that it would purchase Hanarotelecom, the nation’s second-biggest broadband Internet provider. KTF gained 1.7 percent, and LG Dacom advanced 1.7 percent.
Chemical-related shares also did well. LG Chem, Honam Petrochemical and Hyosung added 1.7 percent, 0.8 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.
IT-related shares joined the rally. Samsung Electronics, the nation’s largest exporter, advanced 1.6 percent to 575,000 won ($623). Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s second-largest maker of computer-memory chips, advanced 1 percent. LG Electronics went up 2.6 percent, and LG.Philips LCD added 2.4 percent.
Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance climbed 7.7 percent, LIG Insurance rose 2.2 percent and Dongbu Insurance added 2.8 percent.
Kookmin Bank, the biggest Korean lender, lost 0.3 percent. Shinhan Financial Group, Korea Exchange Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea lost 2.3 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Total traded volume was 282.2 million shares worth 5 trillion won.
The tech-heavy Kosdaq rose by 10.6 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 747.53. Traded volume totaled 535.9 million shares valued at 1.8 trillion won.
By Sung So-young Staff Reporter [so@joonang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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