Seoul shares gain as Trump talks taxes
Min Kyung-won, an analyst with NH Futures, said Trump’s unexpected tax announcement spurred a reversal in market sentiment that had been subdued over uncertainties about his policies. The Kospi closed at 2,075.08, up 9.2 points, or 0.45 percent.
Friday’s uplift was led by purchases from institutional investors to the tune of 302.6 billion won ($263.2 million). Foreign investors offloaded 104.6 billion won in shares while retail investors shed 247 billion won.
Energy and chemicals were strong and gained 2.4 percent. Mechanics added 1.7 percent and banks 1 percent. Semiconductors, on the other hand, lost 2.4 percent.
Korea Electrics Power Corporation advanced 2.35 percent to 41,300 won. LG Chem jumped 3.31 percent to 281,000 won. Rival Lotte Chemical rose 3.83 percent to 407,000 won, a 52-week high. Lotte Shopping soared 6.07 percent to 244,500 won after its fourth-quarter report revealed that the company earned 104.3 percent more in operating profit, far outpacing expectations.
The secondary Kosdaq slipped 0.46 points, or 0.08 percent to 610.58. Buyoffs of information technology shares from institutional and foreign investors were the main factor. On the contrary, pharmaceutical shares added 1 percent.
Celltrion and Medytox added 1.39 percent to 101,800 won and 2.21 percent to 420,800 won, each. Kakao slipped 0.35 percent to 85,100 won. CJ E&M lost 1.38 percent to 78,600 won.
The Korean won weakened 0.4 percent from Thursday to 1,150.6 versus the dollar.
The three-year government bond yield added two basis points to 1.67 percent and the 10-year yield went up three basis points to 2.15 percent.
BY SONG KYOUNG-SON, YONHAP [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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