Bourse rises but investors still cautious
“Investors have kept a close eye on trade protectionism and anti-immigration measures by U.S. President Donald Trump,” said Kim Sung-hwan, an analyst at Bookook Securities. “But a move by Trump to reduce regulations on the financial sector is expected to have a positive effect on emerging markets, including South Korea.”
The Kospi closed at 2,065.88, inching up 0.8 points, or 0.04 percent.
Foreign investors net bought 54.5 billion won ($47.5 million) in Korean shares. Retail investors purchased 24.2 billion won. Institutional investors, on the other hand, offloaded 132.7 billion won in stock.
Samsung Electronics remained unchanged at 1,920,000 won. Chipmaker SK Hynix stumbled 3.48 percent to 52,700 won, its lowest price in eight sessions. Tobacco company KT&G lost 1.46 percent to 101,000 won and LG Household and Health Care shed 2.13 percent to 827,000 won. CJ Group retreated 3.56 percent to 176,000 won.
Hyundai affiliates were strong. Hyundai Motor added 0.72 percent to 140,000 won. Hyundai Engineering and Construction jumped 3.68 percent to 46,500 won and Hyundai Development rose 3.85 percent to 43,200 won. Other top gainers were Lotte Chemical, which rose 2.35 percent to 392,000 won and Samsung SDI which added 2.86 percent to 126,000 won.
The secondary Kosdaq closed at 611.04, up 2.25 points, or 0.37 percent While pharmaceuticals were relatively weak, information technology shares led gains.
Celltrion slipped 0.4 percent to 100,400 won with Medytox, down 2.51 percent to 411,700 won. Kakao, on the contrary, leaped 7.02 percent to 85,400 won and hit its all-time high in more than six months.
The Korean won strengthened 0.1 percent to 1,145.8 against the dollar.
Government bonds were steady, with the three-year yield unchanged at 1.65 percent and the 10-year yield down one basis point to 2.12 percent.
BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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