Kospi breaks record for 4th consecutive day
The benchmark Kospi rose 2.01 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 2,492.50 and the secondary Kospi picked up 1.93 points, or 0.28 percent to close at 689.14.
Trade volume was moderate at 592 million shares worth 5.03 trillion won ($4.46 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 422 to 367.
The local stock market opened higher on overnight gains on Wall Street and extended its gains in the afternoon session on increased foreign buying.
“Global firms are reporting better-than-expected earnings, which will also help prod foreign investors to increase their exposure to local stocks,” said Kim Yong-koo, an analyst at Hana Financial.
The company is scheduled to announce quarterly earnings today.
No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.66 percent to 148,500 won and largest mobile carrier SK Telecom added 1.52 percent to 267,000 won.
State-run utility firm Korea Electric Power went south 0.62 percent to 40,000 won, whereas top steelmaker Posco surged 2.28 percent to end at 337,000 won.
Samsung Life Insurance, the leading life insurer shot up 4.71 percent to end at a record high of 133,500 won. KB Financial advanced 2.43 percent to end at 59,100 won, and Hana Financial gained 2.56 percent to finish at 50,000 won.
Samsung BioLogics, a biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, slumped 4.33 percent to end at 365,000 won. The company announced its operating income in the third quarter swung from loss of 12.9 billion won to 21 billion won. Sales more than doubled to 128 billion won from a year earlier, while it continued to suffer a net loss of 31.7 billion won.
The company attributed the switch to black to its ongoing operations at its second plant.
The local currency closed at 1,127.90 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.5 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year bonds rose 3.7 basis points to 2.094 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds gained 4.9 basis points to 2.341 percent.
BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [seo.jieun@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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