Optimism prevails despite gloomy data
Seoul’s main stock market closed 1.1 percent higher yesterday as overnight gains on Wall Street outweighed worries about the Korean economy’s worst performance in a decade, analysts said.The benchmark Kospi gained 12.62 points to 1,116.23. Volume was moderate at 341.64 million shares worth 4.21 trillion won ($3.06 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 517 to 290.
“Financials got a big boost as U.S. financial stocks, including Citigroup, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan, skyrocketed 20 to 30 percent,” said Lee Chang-wook, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
U.S. Stocks bounced back strongly Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average adding 3.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite index jumping 4.6 percent.
The Bank of Korea said earlier in the day that Korea’s gross domestic product shrank 5.6 percent last quarter from three months earlier, the biggest quarterly decline since the first quarter of 1998.
KB Financial Group, which controls top lender Kookmin Bank, gained 4.2 percent. Shinhan Financial Group rose 1.9 percent.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 2.8 percent to close at 461,000 won, leading the key index higher.
However, other tech blue chips lost ground on lingering concerns over slow market demand and intensified competition, with LG Electronics shedding 3.7 percent and Hynix losing 5.6 percent.
Posco, the world’s fourth-biggest steelmaker, rose 1.7 percent.
Hanwha Group units rebounded. Hanwha Corp. soared 11 percent, while Hanwha Chemical climbed 4.4 percent to 7,770 won. Both stocks rose to the highest since Oct. 16. Korea Development Bank and Hanwha Group failed to agree on the terms of sale for a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, putting the world’s third-largest shipbuilder back on the block. Daewoo Shipbuilding, meanwhile, fell 4.4 percent.
Dongwon Fisheries, a deep-sea fishing company, climbed 2.4 percent, after earlier rising by 9.4 percent. The stock rose after the company announced a plan to buy back 90,000 of its common shares between Jan. 28 and April 24 to “stabilize” its stock price. The purchase may cost 334 million won, it said in a regulatory filing.
Yonhap, Bloomberg
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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