Stocks jump 1 percent as technology shares advance

The screen in a dealing room in Hana Bank in Jung District, central Seoul, shows the closing figure for the Kospi on Wednesday. [NEWS 1]

Korean stocks rebounded almost 1 percent Wednesday after the previous session's plunge, backed by strong advances in tech shares. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi rose 26.14 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,759.82.

Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 19.9 trillion won ($18 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 491 to 360.

Foreigners bought a net 83 billion won, snapping a four-session selling streak, while retail investors sold a net 383 billion won. Institutions purchased a net 301 billion won.

"Foreign buying increased in the afternoon and largely contributed to the 1 percent gain," KB Securities analyst Ha In-hwan said.

The key index rebounded on optimism for a better corporate environment next year. Chip and auto shares led the gain, while pharmaceuticals slumped.

However, concerns over a new strain of Covid-19 in Britain and discord over the U.S. stimulus deal lingered.

Most large caps closed higher.

Samsung Electronics added 2.21 percent to 73,900 won, and chipmaker SK hynix jumped 3.11 percent to 116,000 won.

LG Electronics surged by the daily permissible limit of 30 percent to 119,500 won after the firm revealed its plan to launch an electric car parts joint venture worth about $1 billion next year with Canadian auto parts company Magna International.

Naver finished unchanged at 284,000 won, and Kakao gained 0.4 percent to 377,500 won.

Pharmaceutical company Samsung Biologics lost 0.87 percent to 796,000 won, but Celltrion declined 1.11 percent to 355,000 won.

Chemical firm LG Chem rose 1.13 percent to 806,000 won, while rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI moved down 0.18 percent to 554,000 won.

Hyundai Motor went up 0.54 percent to 185,000 won.

The Kosdaq lost 5.56 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 923.17.

The local currency closed at 1,107.9 won against the dollar, up 0.5 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The return on the three-year bond lost 1.3 basis points to close at 0.932 percent, and the return on the 10-year bond fell 1.6 basis points to close at 0.91 percent.

BY LEE JEE-YOUNG, YONHAP [lee.jeeyoung1@joongang.co.kr]