Kospi claws back to 1,980 on oil prices
The benchmark Kospi closed at 1,981.32, up 10.95 points, or 0.56 percent, from the previous trading day.
Foreign investors bought 119.7 billion won ($104.5 million) in shares, while institutional and retail investors offloaded 109.6 billion won and 87 billion won worth of stock each.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.71 percent to 1,275,000 won and Hyundai Motor gained 1.71 percent to 148,500 won.
Doosan Group’s shares soared on Tuesday as some local experts predicted that its first quarter results will finally be favorable.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction jumped 6.4 percent to 24,100 won and Doosan Engineering & Construction also rose 4.21 percent to 4,575 won.
On the other hand, Hanmi Science dropped 2.75 percent to 141,500 won and tobacco company KT&G fell 1.32 percent to 112,500 won.
Celltrion lost 0.5 percent and entertainment provider CJ E&M shrank 2.9 percent, while Kakao added 2.7 percent.
The won rose for a second day as a weak dollar boosted inflows to Korean stocks.
The currency gained 0.1 percent to close at 1,145.80 a dollar in Seoul. The currency touched 1,141.32, the strongest level since Nov. 6. It has weakened 0.2 percent this month and is up 2.3 percent in 2016.
“The chances are that the Bank of Korea could cut rates,” said Andy Ji, a strategist at CBA in Singapore. “But for now people are just happy trading on a softer U.S. dollar view, without really distinguishing different monetary policy paths.”
Only seven of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the central bank to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points from a record low of 1.5 percent by the end of this quarter.
Government bonds were steady, with the yields on 10 and three year notes little changed at 1.79 percent and 1.47 percent, respectively, according to Korea Exchange prices.
BY KIM YOUNG-NAM, BLOOMBERG [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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