Overseas ripple-effect brings Kospi back up
Seoul stock markets rebounded for two straight days as U.S. markets showed increasing signs of recovery after their downturn late last week.The benchmark Kospi gained 26.56 points, or 1.4 percent, to end at 1,933.27 yesterday after the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 percent, capping the two-day downturn spurred by woes over subprime mortgages.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics, Korea’s largest listed firm by value, rose 0.7 percent to close at 614,000 won ($668), while the No. 2 Posco, the nation’s largest steelmaker, gained 1 percent. Korea Electric Power also climbed 0.1 percent.
Major tech shares were mixed, as Hynix Semiconductor climbed 1.8 percent and LG Electronics added 1.2 percent, while SK Telecom, Korea’s largest wireless operator, lost 1.2 percent.
But shares in Kookmin Bank, Korea’s largest lender, shed 3.3 percent after the bank posted second-quarter profits on Monday that had slid 80 percent from a year earlier on declines in security trading income.
“Kookmin’s share price is likely to go through a correction for quite a while,” said Daniel Baek, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.
LG.Philips LCD gained 2.7 percent amid expectations that its profits would rise for the rest of this year due to an industry-wide product shortage that will push prices up. Shares in Daewoo Engineering & Construction climbed 1.8 percent after the builder was named best local builder for the second-straight year.
Trading volume was 368.3 million shares, worth 6.6 trillion won. Advancers led decliners, 602 to 187.
The junior Kosdaq climbed 17.33 points, or 2.2 percent, to end at 811.52. Trading volume was 534 million shares, worth 2 trillion won. Gainers beat losers, 682 to 252.
By Jung Ha-won Staff Writer [hawon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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