Foreign buyers fail to prop up the market
Seoul’s main bourse peaked at 2,036 early in the trading day thanks to foreign investors buying but closed at 2,028.45, 1.46 points or 0.07 percent lower than the previous day. Analysts said that low oil prices limited the upward movement.While foreigners net bought, institutional and retail investors net sold.
By industry, securities added 1.8 percent, food and beverages climbed 1.0 percent, and communications inched up 0.9 percent, while clothing lost 4.5 percent and chemicals fell 1.1 percent.
Large-cap shares continued to pull up the market for the second day. Samsung Electronics rose 0.4 percent to 1,503,000 won ($1,330) thanks to favorable reviews of the company’s new Galaxy S6 smartphone. The stock exceeded 1.5 million won for the first time since June 2013.
Hyundai Mobis edged up 0.58 percent to 260,000 won. Kia Motors increased 0.42 percent to 47,550 won. SK Telecom inclined 0.72 percent to 281,500 won. Posco added 0.58 percent to 258,000 won. Shinhan Financial Group was up 0.35 percent to 42,650 won.
Hyundai Motor and SK Hynix stayed unchanged at 182,000 won and 46,250 won, respectively.
On the other hand, Naver dropped 0.91 percent to 654,000 won. Samsung SDS slipped 0.54 percent to 277,500 won. Cheil Industries plunged 6.17 percent to 152,000 won. Amore Pacific fell 1.25 percent to 3,084,000 won. LG Chem also saw a 0.44 percent decline to 227,000 won.
Korea’s won reversed an earlier gain as the greenback strengthened before the Federal Reserve finishes a policy review that may offer hints on when it will raise interest rates. The won weakened 0.1 percent to 1,129.77 to the dollar at the 3 p.m. close in Seoul. The currency, which rose as much as 0.3 percent to 1,125.15 earlier, has weakened 3.4 percent in 2015.
“Dollar-buying from offshore investors started in the late afternoon as the greenback strengthened,” said Lee Dong-kuen, a currency trader at Citibank Korea in Seoul. “It looks like the market is bracing for uncertainties ahead of the Fed meeting results.”
Government bonds rose. The yield on the 2 percent notes due December 2017 fell 1 basis point.
BY KIM YOUNG-SHIN, BLOOMBERG [kim.youngshin@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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