Market gets lift on optimism about China
Korean shares rose slightly Tuesday thanks to a boost in global markets and positive expectations about the Chinese economy. The benchmark Kospi index added 10.99 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 2,041.03.The secondary market Kosdaq also stepped up a little to close at 650.49, which was 3.75 points or 0.58 percent up from the previous day.
Foreign investors net bought Kospi shares while institutional and retail investors net sold. Although foreigners pulled up the index by buying stocks worth 136 billion won ($123 million), continued sales by institutions for 10 consecutive trading days limited the increase.
By industry, chemical shares rose 1.6 percent, financial and machine-related shares climbed 1.2 percent and securities added 0.5 percent.
Cosmetic companies saw major increases. Amore Pacific edged up 3.52 percent to 3,355,000 won, and LG Household and Health Care soared 5.26 percent to 841,000 won.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inclined 0.91 percent to 1,441,000 won. Hyundai Motor climbed 0.9 percent to 168,500 won, and Hyundai Mobis was up 0.41 percent to 246,500 won. SK Hynix gained 0.11 percent to 45,550 won. Posco added 0.82 percent to 244,500 won. LG Chem crept up 0.44 percent to 226,000 won.
On the other hand, Naver, the nation’s top Internet portal, lost 1.47 percent to 671,000 won. SK Telecom dropped 2.15 percent to 272,500 won. Samsung SDS dipped 1.65 percent to 267,500 won. Cheil Industries fell 1.32 percent to 148,500 won. Kia Motor slipped 0.11 percent to 45,200 won.
The won weakened 0.4 percent Tuesday to 1,109.69 per dollar and is down 1.1 percent for the month. The currency has declined 1.7 percent this year.
Korea’s bonds rose, pushing yields to record lows.
“The Bank of Korea governor’s words fanned rate-cut expectations after he mentioned macroeconomic factors,” said Moon Hong-cheol, a fixed-income analyst at Dongbu Securities. “The three-year yield has room to fall as the market sees another rate cut to 1.50 percent.”
BY KIM YOUNG-SHIN, BLOOMBERG [kim.youngshin@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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