Kospi rebounds as undervalued shares sell
Korean stocks closed higher Wednesday after falling for two previous sessions as investors scooped up undervalued shares, analysts said. The won depreciated against the dollar.The benchmark Kospi rose 6.75 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 2,058.78. Trading volume was low at 350 million shares worth 3.86 trillion won ($3.27 billion).
Analysts said Seoul shares gained ground as foreigners hunted for bargains while taking a wait-and-see stance on the hearing of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell slated for this week.
“Recently, the stock market fell excessively, which induced investors to purchase undervalued shares,” Lee Young-gon, a researcher from Hana Financial Investment, said.
Individuals bought a net 0.6 billion won worth of shares and foreign investors bought a net 200.8 billion won worth. Institutions sold a net 187.5 billion won of stocks.
Samsung Electronics moved up 1 percent to 45,550 won on reports that the company is considering reducing production of NAND flash to improve profitability. No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix jumped 4.44 percent to 72,900 won.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction shot up 1.25 percent to 48,450 won after it clinched a 3.2 trillion-won deal to build gas and crude oil-processing facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Chemical shares traded mixed, with LG Chem closing unchanged at 337,500 won, while LG Household & Health Care shed 0.24 percent to 1,216,000 won. Oil refiner S-Oil moved up 2.64 percent to 89,500 won.
Top pharmaceutical firm Celltrion shed 1.82 percent to 189,000 won, and Samsung BioLogics slid 1.32 percent to 299,500 won. Hanmi Pharmaceutical moved down 0.85 percent to 292,500 won.
Shares of mobile carriers closed bearish as well, with SK Telecom falling 0.20 percent to 254,500 won and rival KT decreasing 0.36 percent to 27,650 won. LG U+ fell 0.36 at 13,650 won.
The Kosdaq rose 9.10 points, or 1.38 percent, to end the session at 666.90.
The tech-heavy index was lifted by foreign and institutional buying of shares and a 0.8 percent rise in Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight.
The won closed at 1,181.60 won against the dollar, up 1.10 won from the previous session.
Bond prices ended lower. The yield on three-year bonds rose 1.4 basis points to 1.44 percent. The yield on 10-year bonds rose 2.4 basis points to 1.56 percent.
BY KIM HE-YU, YONHAP [kim.heyu@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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