Kospi breaks record for second day in a row
The benchmark Kospi rose 16.60 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 2,474.76 on Thursday, extending its winning streak to a fifth trading day.
The local stock market opened higher, taking its cue from a strong lead on Wall Street overnight.
Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said macroeconomic environments at home and abroad have had a positive impact on Korea’s exporters.
Foreign investors were the main buyers of the Korean stocks on Thursday, scooping up 244.3 billion won ($215.6 million). Institutional investors offloaded 222.1 billion won and retail investors net sold 54.6 billion won.
The trading volume exceeded six trillion won for three straight sessions on Thursday.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics nudged up 0.29 percent to close at a fresh high of 2,740,000 won. On the same day, Fitch Ratings upgraded the tech giant’s ratings to AA- from A+, saying the outlook is stable.
Portal giant Naver advanced 2.26 percent to 768,000 won on Thursday.
Financial companies were in positive terrain.
KB Financial Group, the top financial holding company in Korea by asset size, rose 1.56 percent to 58,600 won. Rival Shinhan Financial Group pushed up 0.20 percent to 50,600 won. Hana Financial Group went up 1.64 percent to 49,500 won.
SK Innovation, Korea’s top oil refiner, jumped 3.70 percent to 210,000 won.
Auto shares were mixed across the board.
Top automobile company Hyundai Motor inched up 0.97 percent to 156,500 won. On the contrary, its sister company Kia Motors inched down 0.77 percent to 32,300 won. Affiliate auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis retreated 1.65 percent to 238,000 won.
The secondary Kosdaq extended its rally into a fourth trading day, up 4.23 points, or 0.64 percent to close at 666.54.
The local currency closed at 1,133.35 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.85 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell three basis points to 1.90 percent and the return on the 10-year government bond also declined three basis points to 2.39 percent.
BY CHOI HYUNG-JO, YONHAP [choi.hyungjo@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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