Kospi regains ground amid bargain hunting
Seoul stocks edged up yesterday. The benchmark Kospi closed at 1,643.29, up 2.62 points, or 0.2 percent. Bargain hunting following Monday’s sharp drop and the U.S. Dow Jones industrial average’s 0.5 percent gain overnight sent Seoul stocks higher, analysts said.“There was a technical rebound after shares tumbled on Monday, reflecting the negative factors that occurred during the Lunar New Year holiday,” Lee Woo-hyun at Kyobo Securities wrote in a report yesterday. “But sluggish trading and unstable foreign factors are weakening the rebound.”
Trade volume was thin at 288 million shares worth 4.1 trillion won ($4.4 billion). Winning shares led losers, 485 to 327.
Shipbuilders rose. Hyundai Heavy Industries advanced 2.4 percent to 341,500 won. The company said yesterday that it received a 1.3 trillion won order from Europe for eight large container vessels, its biggest contract in more than a year.
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering rose 1.5 percent, after it said it received orders from Oman Shipping Company to build 10 oil tankers for a combined $1.5 billion.
Tech shares were mixed. Samsung Electronics fell 1.9 percent. LG Electronics shed 0.7 percent. Hynix Semiconductor climbed 0.6 percent. LG.Philips LCD added 3 percent.
Financial shares were also mixed. Woori Finance Holdings gained 0.3 percent after the head of state-run Korea Deposit Insurance said it is watching financial markets to determine the best time to sell part of its 73 percent stake in Woori Finance. Shinhan Financial Group slid 1.1 percent.
The secondary Kosdaq climbed 6.35 points, or 1 percent, to 636.29. NHN, operator of the nation’s most-visited Internet portal, Naver, added 0.5 percent. Volume was 476.3 million shares worth 1.2 trillion won. Advancing shares led decliners, 623 to 323.
By Moon So-young Staff Reporter [symoon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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