Kospi on the rise as bio, chemical stocks sell

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Kospi on the rise as bio, chemical stocks sell

Stocks closed higher for the second consecutive day Tuesday, on the back of gains in bio and chemical stocks. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Kospi added 9.37 points, or 0.45 percent, to reach 2,072.42. Trading volume was slim at 381.58 million shares worth 3.73 trillion won ($3.1 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 506 to 315.

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The index started weak but turned higher as pharmaceutical and chemical shares rallied.

Institutions were net buyers as they scooped up 295 billion won worth of shares. Foreigners sold a net 142 billion won worth of stocks, while individual investors offloaded a net 158 billion won worth of shares on the Seoul bourse.

“A series of good news in the pharmaceutical industry improved investor sentiment and lifted the index,” said Choi Yoo-june, an analyst at Shinhan Financial Investment.

Pharmaceutical firm Celltrion surged 5.79 percent to 173,500 won on news that it inked a contract manufacturing organization deal with TEVA Pharmaceuticals International for a migraine drug.

Samsung BioLogics jumped 5.04 percent to 323,000 won after the company announced it won a patent lawsuit against Switzerland-based pharmaceutical giant Lonza.

LG Chem advanced 1.67 percent to 304,500 won, while Lotte Chemical gained 1.27 percent to 239,000 won.

SK, the holding company for energy and telecom conglomerate SK, shot up 9.8 percent to end at 224,000 won on news that it plans to spend some 700 billion won in buying back its shares.

Tech and auto shares were in negative terrain. Samsung Electronics shed 0.41 percent to 48,850 won, and chipmaker SK Hynix lost 0.24 percent to 82,000 won.

Hyundai Motor slid 1.12 percent to 132,500 won, while its sister company Kia Motors dived 1.21 percent to 45,050 won. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis dipped 1.79 percent to 247,500 won.

Refiners closed lower. SK Innovation moved down 0.30 percent to end at 165,500 won and S-Oil dropped 0.50 percent to end at 98,900 won.

The secondary Kosdaq gained 10.34 points, or 1.66 percent, to close at 632.10.

The local currency closed at 1,199.00 won against dollar, up 2.8 won from the previous session’s close.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on three-year bonds added 0.2 basis points to 1.323 percent, and the yield on 10-year bonds dropped 1.5 basis points to 1.66 percent.

BY KIM BYUNG-WOOK, YONHAP [kim.byungwook@joongang.co.kr]
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