Stocks rise for a second day as Fed meets expectations

A screen at Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 3,006.41 points on Thursday, up 17.02 points, or 0.57 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday amid eased uncertainties about interest rates and U.S. Federal Reserve tapering. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi rose 17.02 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 3,006.41 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 397 million shares worth some 8.4 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 416 to 406.

Foreigners bought a net 187 billion won, while institutions sold 52 billion won and retail investors offloaded 168 billion won.

Stocks traded in positive terrain as the Fed seems to be staying within expectations.

The Fed said it would double the speed of the tapering of its bond purchasing program and projected three rate hikes in 2022. It also expects there could be two rate hikes each in 2023 and 2024.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite jumped 2.15 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.08 percent.

"The Fed's tapering issues seems to have had limited influence over Asian stock prices," said Mirae Asset Securities analyst Park Gwang-nam.

Korea's new Covid-19 cases hit a fresh high of 7,622, and the number of critically ill patients neared 1,000.

Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.26 percent to 77,800 won, and chipmaker SK hynix added 0.4 percent to 124,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver closed unchanged at 387,500 won, and Kakao gained 0.84 percent to 119,500 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics jumped 5.97 percent to 958,000 won, while Celltrion edged down 0.24 percent to 206,000 won.

Automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.24 percent to 209,500 won, and chemical firm LG Chem increased 1.29 percent to 705,000 won.

The Kosdaq gained 4.34 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 1007.86.

The local currency closed at 1,183.9 won to the dollar, down 1.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 4.3 basis points to 1.766 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond gained 1.1 basis points to 1.45 percent.

BY LEE TAE-HEE, YONHAP [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]