Stocks up slightly despite a down day in the United States

The closing Kopi is displayed on the screen in the dealing room of KB Kookmin Bank, located in the financial district of Yeouido, Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Stocks closed higher Wednesday, extending the winning streak to a fourth session on foreign and institutional buying. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 9.03 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 1,989.64. Trading volume was moderate at some 688 million shares, worth about 8 trillion won ($6.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 550 to 275.

The increase came despite heavy overnight losses on Wall Street, sparked by renewed fears over the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The U.S. stock market returned some of the gains from the previous session despite pledges [to support the economy] from the U.S. Fed and head of the Treasury," NH Investment & Securities analyst Noh Dong-kil said.

"Reduced hopes for the development of a vaccine partly caused the drop in U.S. stock prices, but the heightening of the U.S.-China dispute also had a negative impact on investor sentiments," Noh added.

Reports of positive results from early-stage testing of a candidate vaccine for the novel coronavirus sparked a global stock market rally earlier this week. Experts, however, have since pointed out the lack of enough clinical evidence to prove the effectiveness of the candidate vaccine.

Foreigners purchased a net 78 billion won, while institutions bought a net 96 billion won. Retail investors sold a net 178.7 billion won.

Large caps closed mixed.

Samsung Electronics shed 0.6 percent to 50,000 won, but chipmaker SK hynix surged 1.69 percent to 84,100 won. Samsung BioLogics remained flat at 600,000 won, while Celltrion surged 2.58 percent to 218,500 won.

Hyundai Motor plunged 1.82 percent to 97,300 won, while Kia Motors fell 2.68 percent to 30,850 won.

The Kosdaq added 12.40 points or 1.78 percent to close at 708.76 points.

The local currency closed at 1,230.30 won per dollar, up 5 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year bonds lost 0.9 basis points to 0.867 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year government bond inched down 3.1 basis points to reach 0.69 percent.

BY KANG JAE-EUN, YONHAP [kang.jaeeun@joongang.co.kr]