Kospi bounces back to pass 3,000-mark again

A digital screen at Hana Bank's dealing room in central Seoul shows Kospi surged by 3.5 percent on Thursday to 3,099.69, bouncing back from the previous day's fall to below the 3,000-mark. [YONHAP]

Seoul's main bourse Kospi sharply rebounded more than 3 percent Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman's comments soothed inflation worries.

The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Kospi jumped 104.71 points, or 3.5 percent, to close at 3,099.69 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 16.9 trillion won ($15.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 807 to 80.

Foreigners bought a net 968 billion won, while retail investors offloaded a net 1.9 trillion won. Institutions purchased a net 979 billion won.

Stocks got off to a strong start largely due to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s overnight reiteration that the world’s largest economy still has a long way to go to recover from the pandemic's fallout.

The rebound came a day after the key stock index tumbled to a monthly low following worries of a post-pandemic inflation, heralded by a bond yield hike.

"Local stocks spiked on strong foreign and institutional buying," said Kiwoom Securities analyst Seo Sang-young. "[Such an upturn also appeared] both in the U.S. and Chinese stock markets.”

In Seoul, most large caps closed higher.

Top cap Samsung Electronics added 4.02 percent to close at 85,300 won, and No.2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 9.19 percent to close at 148,500 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,107.8 won against the U.S. dollar, up 4.4 won from the previous session's close.

BY YONHAP, KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]