Stock market extends winning streak to third straight session

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,998.17 points on Thursday, up 13.69 points, or 0.46 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

The stock market extended its winning streak to a third session Thursday, buoyed by advances by tech and auto issues. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi advanced 13.69 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 2,998.17 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 476 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($7.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 477 to 358.

Foreigners bought a net 233 billion won and institutions purchased 578 billion won, while retail investors offloaded 817 billion won.

After opening with mild gains, the key stock index gained ground mostly driven by tech advances.

Investment sentiment for tech firms was buoyed by reports that chipmaker SK hynix successfully received approval from Chinese authorities for its acquisition of Intel Corp.'s NAND memory chip business, clearing the final hurdle for the merger process.

Telsa's overnight rallies also bolstered the market mood for major automakers here.

"SK hynix's acquisition and Tesla's gains seem to have had a positive impact on chip and auto stocks," said Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Huh Jae-hwan.

Samsung Electronics added 0.63 percent to 79,900 won, and SK hynix gained 0.39 percent to 127,500 won.

Internet portal operator Naver edged down 0.13 percent to 378,000 won, and Kakao fell 1.31 percent to 113,000 won.

LG Electronics surged 5.79 percent to 137,000 won, and battery maker SK Innovation rose 1.88 percent to 216,500 won.

Automaker Hyundai Motor moved up 1.21 percent to 209,000 won, and LG Chem advanced 1.44 percent to 634,000 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics retreated 0.55 percent to 896,000 won, and Celltrion edged up 0.25 percent to 201,000 won.

Payment service provider Kakao Pay jumped 4.18 percent to 174,500 won.

The Kosdaq gained 3.18 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 1,003.31.

The local currency closed at 1,187.9 won against the dollar, down 4.1 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds added 4.6 basis points to 1.805 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond lost 0.6 basis point to 1.45 percent.

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