Tech and bio shares give Seoul stocks a boost
The benchmark Kospi rose 8.69 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,315.72. Trade volume was light at 266 million shares worth 4.3 trillion won ($3.86 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 445 to 357.
After a choppy session in the morning, the index rebounded late in the afternoon as blue-chips gained ground.
“Strong performance by pharmaceutical and bio shares seem to have boosted the overall investment sentiment,” said Lee Young-gon, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment.
Foreigners bought a net 14.4 billion won worth of local stocks, while individuals and institutional investors offloaded 34 billion won and 5.6 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.42 percent to close at 47,650 won, and SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, added 0.74 percent to 81,200 won.
Pharmaceutical giant Celltrion jumped 4.87 percent to close at 280,000 won, and Hanmi Pharm was up 1.39 percent to 509,000 won as investor sentiment in bio stocks improved recently. But Samsung BioLogics edged down 0.42 percent to close at 470,000 won.
Last week, Kim Yong-beom, vice chief of the Financial Services Commission, hinted at relaxing accounting regulations for local pharmaceuticals’ research and development expenditures.
Auto shares had a mixed day.
No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor moved up 1.2 percent to 126,500, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors was down 0.63 percent to 31,600 won. The business group’s auto parts subsidiary Hyundai Mobis remained flat at 226,500 won.
LG Chem, the country’s leading chemical firm, lost 0.14 percent to 367,500 won, and top steelmaker Posco also surrendered 0.94 percent to 316,500 won.
SK Telecom ended 2.14 percent higher at 262,000 won after it unveiled plans earlier in the morning to come up with customer loyalty programs targeting teens and twenty-somethings.
The Korean currency closed at 1,114.90 won against the U.S. dollar, down 4.6 won from Monday’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year bonds moved down 0.5 basis points to 1.917 percent, and the return on benchmark five-year government bonds fell 0.2 basis point to 2.101 percent.
BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [seo.jieun@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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