Stocks rally as investors get over the Gamestop frenzy

Finance

Published: 01 Feb. 2021, 17:31

Stocks rally as investors get over the Gamestop frenzy

A screen shows the final figure for the Kospi in a dealing room in Hana Bank in Jung District, central Seoul, on Monday. The Kospi climbed back over the 3,000-point threshold after dropping below the previous session on Friday. [NEWS 1]

Korean stocks closed back over the 3,000 Monday, led by foreign and institutional buying and strong advances by bio shares. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi jumped 80.32 points, or 2.7 percent, to close at 3,056.53 points.

Trading volume was high at about 958 million shares worth some 20.5 trillion won ($18.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 710 to 156.

Foreigners bought a net 131 billion won and institutions purchased a net 689 billion won while retail investors sold a net 782 billion won.

Early morning trading was choppy, partially influenced by the stock frenzy related to U.S. video game vendor Gamestop that dragged down the S&P 500 index by 1.9 percent the previous session.

But the key index rebounded as foreigners and institutions turned net buyers after a four-day selling streak. Last week, the Kospi tumbled 5.24 percent, closing the week below the 2,900-mark for the first time since Jan. 6.

"Asian stocks generally gained, with the U.S. Gamestop issue seemingly concluded as a regional agenda," Shinhan Financial Investment analyst Choi Yoo-joon said.

"Investor sentiment (in the local markets) seems to have mostly recovered from (last week's) plunge," he added.

In Seoul, most large caps closed lower.

Samsung Electronics added 1.22 percent to 83,000 won, and chipmaker SK hynix advanced 2.04 percent to 125,000 won.

Samsung Biologics gained 2.52 percent to 813,000 won.

Naver moved up 1.46 percent to 348,000 won, with its rival Kakao edging up 0.11 percent to 441,500 won.

Chemical maker LG Chem hiked 3.6 percent to 950,000 won, and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI climbed 1.5 percent to 745,000 won. Hyundai Motor jumped 4.15 percent to 238,500 won.

The Kosdaq gained 28.19 points, or 3.04 percent, to close at 956.92.

The local currency closed at 1,116.5 won per dollar, down 2.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on the three-year bond gained 2.4 basis points to close at 0.995 percent, and the yield on the 10-year bond added 1.3 basis points to close at 1.06 percent.

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