Seoul stocks jump up on eased concerns of U.S. tapering

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,972.48 points on Wednesday, up 45.10 points, or 1.54 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks closed sharply higher Wednesday as the U.S. Fed chief's comments about inflation were largely within market expectations. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi gained 45.1 points, or 1.54 percent, to close at 2,972.48 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 506 million shares worth some 10.8 trillion won ($9.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 730 to 140.

Institutions bought a net 607 billion won and foreigners purchased 455 billion won, while retail investors sold 1.07 trillion won.

Stocks got off to a strong start, taking a cue from overnight rallies on Wall Street.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.41 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.51 percent.

"The Kospi seems to have rebounded on partially eased concerns about the Fed's tapering," said NH Investment & Securities analyst Kim Young-hwan.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank will take actions if needed in order to reign in the inflation pressure and may taper its balance sheet at a faster pace than the previous time.

He did not specify the time for the next rate hike.

Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.

Samsung Electronics closed unchanged from the previous session at 78,900 won, and chipmaker SK hynix increased 0.39 percent to 128,500 won.

Pharmaceutical company Samsung Biologics climbed 2.88 percent to 857,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver moved up 3.13 percent to 345,500 won, and Kakao gained 2.32 percent to 97,200 won.

Electric car battery maker LG Chem surged 5.31 percent to 773,000 won, and Samsung SDI jumped 5.1 percent to 659,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,190.5 won against the U.S. dollar, down 4.2 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 21.41 points, or 2.21 percent, to close at 991.33.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 3.8 basis points to 2.000 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond declined 2.4 basis point to 1.74 percent.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, YONHAP [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]