Kospi rises following Trump trade comments
The benchmark Kospi fluctuated between positive and negative territory during the session but ended the day higher at 2,029.69, rising 15.00 points or 0.74 percent.
Trading volume was moderate at 366.58 million shares worth 6.22 trillion won ($5.46 billion).
Analysts said Seoul shares closed higher tracking the U.S. market, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.77 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.58 percent.
“A positive remark made by President Donald Trump on the U.S. and China trade dispute led to the rise in U.S. shares,” said Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, saying the news also had a positive impact on Korean and other Asian markets.
Foreign and retail investors were net buyers in the benchmark index as they picked up a net 135.4 billion won and a net 259.9 billion won worth of shares, respectively. Foreign investors were net buyers after nine consecutive sessions of selling.
Institutional investors turned to net sellers, offloading a net 413.6 billion won worth of shares.
Market giant Samsung Electronics edged 0.12 percent higher to close at 42,400 won. No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix was unchanged at 68,200 won.
LG Chem, the country’s top chemical company, ended 2.51 percent higher to 347,000 won, and Lotte Chemical went up 3.35 percent to 262,500 won.
Refiners were also winners as industry leader SK Innovation rose 2.64 percent to 213,500 won, and S-Oil gained 3.77 percent to 124,000 won.
Top portal operator Naver ended up 3.62 percent to 114,500 won, while rival tech company Kakao rose 1.22 percent to close at 91,600 won.
Pharmaceutical shares ended down as Celltrion fell 3.55 percent to 217,500 won and Samsung biopharmaceutical unit Samsung BioLogics declined 2.64 percent to 387,500 won.
The secondary Kosdaq index also ended the day higher, rising 4.53 points, or 0.70 percent, to 648.67. The tech and bio-heavy index was helped by a 4.16 percent rise in the U.S. Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight.
The Korean won ended at 1,139.60 won, up 0.40 won against the U.S. dollar.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended lower. The yield on three-year bonds rose 0.8 basis points to 1.94 percent, and the return on 10-year bonds added 2.2 basis points to 2.24 percent.
BY CHAE YUN-HWAN, YONHAP [chae.yunhwan@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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