Kospi slips from Tuesday’s high for year
Stocks stopped short of setting yet another record yesterday, closing 0.61 point, or 0.03 percent, below the high for the year set Tuesday.The benchmark Kospi finished at 2,028.32 points. Foreign investors net purchased 132.6 billion won ($129.6 million), while retail and institutional investors sold 124.2 billion won, combined.
Samsung Electronics dropped 0.74 percent to 1.34 million won. LG Electronics also dipped 0.14 percent to 73,900 won.
SK Hynix, the nation’s leading semiconductor maker, decreased 3.04 percent to 49,450 won, while iPhone supplier LG Display fell 2.68 percent to 32,700 won.
Automobile shares were mostly down across the board. Hyundai Motor saw a 1.53 percent decrease to 225,500 won, while Kia Motors dipped 0.36 percent, closing at 55,400 won.
Naver, the nation’s largest search engine, lost 3.07 percent to 759,000 won, while its smaller rival Daum slipped 1.53 percent to 129,000 won.
Steel shares, however, had a better day. Posco, the leading steelmaker, rallied 2.75 percent to 318,000 won, while Hyundai Steel inched up 0.56 percent to 72,100 won.
Heavy industry stocks were largely on the rise across the board. Hyundai Heavy Industries, gained 2.41 percent to 170,000 won, while Samsung Heavy Industries jumped 6.45 percent to 28,900 won. Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shot up 7.13 percent to 26,300 won.
The country’s largest chemical company, LG Chem, climbed 0.70 percent to 288,500 won. Lotte Chemical followed suit, adding 1.80 percent to close at 170,000 won.
The won appreciated to 1,023.70 against the dollar after reaching 1,022.85 earlier in the day, its the strongest level since July 15.
Yield on treasury notes due June 2017 declined one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 2.50 percent. The yield on bonds maturing March 2024 fell one basis point to 2.99 percent.
“Investors are betting on stronger bonds ahead of tomorrow’s announcement” of a government stimulus package, said Kong Dong-rak, a fixed-income analyst for Hanwha Investment & Securities. “There isn’t much room for yields to decline further as the three-year yield has matched the benchmark rate.”
BY KIM EUN-JI, BLOOMBERG [eunjik@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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