Good news from China buoys the market
Seoul’s main bourse opened around the 1,980 mark due to the strength of the dollar, but the positive outlook on additional growth in China’s economy and the Bank of Korea’s low key interest rate pulled it back up to close at 1987.33, 1.54 points, or 0.08 percent, up from the previous trading day.By industry, electronics inclined 1.2 percent, nonmetals climbed 0.4 percent and machinery rose 0.2 percent. Steel and metal lost 1.5 percent, chemicals dropped 0.2 percent and transport fell 0.1 percent.
The top three stocks on the Kospi by market capitalization all gained. Samsung Electronics added 0.89 point to 1,470,000 won ($1,299). Hyundai Motor edged up 2.03 percent to 175,500 won. SK Hynix jumped 3.85 percent to 45,800 won.
Amore Pacific, the nation’s leading cosmetics company, also leapt up 4.79 percent to reach 3,039,000 won thanks to expectations of growth after its stock split. This is the first time for its shares to close at more than 3 million won.
Hyundai Mobis, LG Display, LG Electronics and Shinhan Financial Group also saw their stock prices increase.
On the other hand, Korea Electric Power Corporation declined 0.91 percent to 43,450 won. SK Telecom slipped 1.06 percent to 280,000 won. Posco flopped 2.45 percent to 259,000 won. Naver shrank 1.08 percent to 643,000 won. Cheil Industries lost 2.86 percent to 153,000 won.
The won weakened 0.3 percent to close at 1,131.68 a dollar on Monday in Seoul. The currency earlier reached a 20-month low of 1,137.46 and its run of declines is the longest since the seven days ending Nov. 7.
“The monetary policies in the U.S. and Korea are diverging, and this will weaken the won in the medium term,” said Kim Moon-il, a Seoul-based fixed-income analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. “There are expectations that the BOK may ease policy further.”
Sovereign bonds rose. The yield on the 2 percent notes due December 2017 fell 1 basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.86 percent, Korea Exchange prices show. That’s the lowest for benchmark three-year notes in data compiled by Bloomberg since 2000. The 10-year yield declined 4 basis points to 2.32 percent.
BY KIM YOUNG-SHIN, BLOOMBERG [kim.youngshin@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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