Seoul stocks rebound as investors look for a good deal

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,975.03 points on Tuesday, up 12.03 points, or 0.41 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

The Kospi rebounded Tuesday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks after the key index's recent plunge. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark index added 12.03 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 2,975.03 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 396 million shares worth some 8.6 trillion won ($7.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 428 to 415.

Institutions bought a net 601 billion won and foreigners purchased 35 billion won while retail investors offloaded 651 billion won.

Stocks started strong after the stock index dipped nearly 2 percent the previous session over the global spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Institutional buying led the Kospi's gain in Seoul, with tech heavyweights faring well.

"With an overall gain in the Asian stocks, chip-related stocks seem to have performed well," said Shinhan Investment Securities analyst Choi Yoo-joon said.

"The local stock index seems to have taken advantage from its large portion of chip stocks," he added.

Samsung Electronics added 1.3 percent to 78,100 won, and chipmaker SK hynix jumped 3.32 percent to 124,500 won.

Internet portal operator Naver advanced 0.54 percent to 375,000 won, and Kakao rose 1.33 percent to 114,500 won.

Automaker Hyundai Motor closed unchanged from the previous session at 205,000 won, and its sister company Kia edged up 0.36 percent to 83,200 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics lost 0.64 percent to 929,000 won, and Celltrion fell 0.49 percent to 205,000 won.

LG Chem decreased 2.13 percent to 642,000 won, and battery maker SK Innovation slid 1.15 percent to 215,500 won.

KakaoBank lost 1.44 percent to 61,400 won, and payment service Kakao Pay fell 0.87 percent to 171,000 won.

The Kosdaq rose 6.09 points, or 0.61 percent, to close at 996.6.

The local currency traded at 1,192.9 won against the dollar, up 2.1 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 2.2 basis points to 1.719 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond fell 2 basis points to 1.42 percent.

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