Stocks rise for a fifth day on recovery optimism

Finance

Published: 04 Jun. 2020, 18:01

Stocks rise for a fifth day on recovery optimism

An employee looks at the screen in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung District, central Seoul, Thursday. [YONHAP]

Stocks extended their winning streak to a fifth consecutive session Thursday, reaching the highest level in over 100 days on economic recovery hopes. The won fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 4.18 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 2,151.18, the highest since Feb. 21. Trading volume was high at about 1.4 billion shares worth 15.8 trillion won ($13 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 441 to 391.

The index got off to a strong start, reaching an intraday high of 2,191.00, or up 2 percent from the previous session's close, in the first 10 minutes of trading.

It trimmed gains as investors apparently sought cash in early gains.

Institutions bought a net 297.9 billion won, and foreigners purchased a net 46 billion won. Individuals offloaded a net 334.9 billion won.

"Large-caps led the index's gain yesterday, and today they got sold off for profit-taking, offsetting earlier gains," NH Investment & Securities analyst Noh Dong-kil said.

"The index may slow down in gains, but the hike is likely to last for a while amid hopes of economic reopening and coordinated global policies," he added.

Stocks rallied for five straight sessions since Friday amid growing hopes of an economic recovery, further fueled by the country's 35.3 trillion-won extra budget proposal to revive the economy amid the fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed extra budget marks the third of its kind this year and the largest ever in the country's history.

Large caps closed mixed.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.18 percent to 54,600 won, while chipmaker SK hynix shed 1.13 percent to 87,700 won.

Samsung Biologics jumped 3.83 percent to 650,000 won, and Celltrion spiked 8.57 percent to 247,000 won. Hyundai Motor stayed flat at 108,500 won, while Kia Motors slipped 2.17 percent to 36,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,218.70 won per dollar, up 1.90 won from the previous session's close.

The secondary Kosdaq was up 4.71 points, or 0.64 percent, to close at 742.37.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year bonds added 2.1 basis points to 0.886 percent, and the return on the benchmark ten-year government bond added 5.9 basis points to reach 0.74 percent.

BY KIM YEON-AH, YONHAP [kim.yeonah@joongang.co.kr]