Korea shares rise ahead of Trump-Xi meeting
The benchmark Kospi moved up 16.40 points, or 0.79 percent, to end the session at 2,099.42. Trading volume was light at 235.15 million shares worth 4.41 trillion won ($3.9 billion).
“The Korean stock market is being affected by the rising hope over the Washington and Beijing summit,” said Seo Sang-yeong, an analyst from Kiwoom Securities.
Trump and Xi are set to meet in Buenos Aires at the G20 summit slated for this week.
Offshore investors bought a net 195.1 billion won worth of shares, and institutional investors picked up a net 19.4 billion won worth of shares. Individual investors offloaded a net 211.6 billion won worth of shares.
Auto-related shares rose as top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 6.20 percent to 101,000 won, and its sister company, Kia Motors, added 2.61 percent to 29,450 won. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis climbed 4.49 percent to 174,500 won.
Leading steelmaker Posco rose 1.88 percent to 244,000 won.
Cosmetics giant LG Household & Health Care added 1.31 percent to 1,160,000 won, and AmorePacific ended 4.19 percent up to close at 161,500 won.
Major electronic shares mostly rose as market bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 1.06 percent to 43,050 won and LG Electronics ended 0.84 percent up to 71,800 won. Meanwhile No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix inched 0.14 percent down to 70,800 won.
Chemical shares were mixed as industry leader LG Chem rose 2.39 percent to 343,000 won, while Lotte Chemical fell 1.54 percent to 287,000 won.
Pharmaceutical leader Celltrion slid 1.04 percent to 238,000 won, while Hanmi Pharmaceutical added 0.68 percent to 445,000 won.
The Kosdaq also closed the session higher, adding 5.31 points or 0.76 percent, at 700.67. The tech and bio-heavy index rose, helped by a 2.06 percent rise in the U.S. Nasdaq Composite Index overnight, and institutions and offshore investors buying IT and pharmaceutical-related shares.
The Korean won closed at 1,129.40 won against the greenback, up 0.50 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year bonds fell 0.6 basis points to 1.91 percent, and the return on 10-year bonds lost 1.7 basis points to 2.15 percent.
BY CHAE YUN-HWAN, YONHAP [chae.yunhwan@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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