Stocks gain as foreigners go on buying spree
The benchmark Kospi added 13.66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,300.16. Trade volume was moderate at 4.6 trillion won ($4.09 billion).
Foreigners bought a net 56.7 billion won worth of shares on the main bourse, while individuals offloaded a net 6.4 billion won and institutional investors sold a net 108.4 billion won.
The Kospi opened a tad lower but soon turned to positive terrain, tracking overnight Wall Street gains. On Monday, U.S. stocks ended higher on sound second-quarter corporate earnings reports. The S&P 500 added 0.35 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.61 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.16 percent.
“Foreign investors were net sellers during the morning session but went on a buying spree in the afternoon,” said Ryu Yong-seok, an analyst at KB Securities.
Most large-cap stocks had a mixed day of trading, with tech and bio shares leading the gains.
Top cap Samsung Electronics ended at 46,700 won, up 1.97 percent from the previous session’s close to continue a three-day winning streak. On Monday, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon to discuss future growth drivers, including semiconductors and 5G networks.
Its smaller rival LG Electronics added 0.94 percent to close at 75,100 won. Chipmaker SK Hynix advanced 1.64 percent to 80,700 won.
Shares of biopharmaceutical companies also gained ground, with Samsung BioLogics, Samsung’s biopharmaceutical affiliate, jumping 6.53 percent to end at 424,000 won. Celltrion was up 0.18 percent to close at 274,500 won.
Bio shares led the gains on news that Samsung’s Lee asked Finance Minister Kim to loosen regulations in the pharmaceutical industry, promising that the conglomerate would make large investments in its bio business.
The secondary Kosdaq climbed 3.29 points, or 0.42 percent, to end the day at 784.70. Pharmaceuticals and semiconductors led the gains in the bio and tech-heavy index.
The Korean won closed at 1,123.8 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.2 won from Monday’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year bonds fell 1.5 basis points to 2.08 percent, and the return on 10-year government bonds lost 0.4 basis points to 2.56 percent.
BY KIM EUN-JIN, YONHAP [kim.eunjin1@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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