Kospi rebounds thanks to drop in oil prices

Finance

Published: 16 Mar. 2022, 19:07

Kospi rebounds thanks to drop in oil prices

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,659.23 points on Wednesday, up 37.7 points, or 1.44 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks rebounded Wednesday on the back of a steep fall in oil prices, ending a three-day losing streak. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi closed up 37.70 points, or 1.44 percent, at 2,659.23 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 727 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($7.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 734 to 128.

Institutions bought a net 365 billion won, while foreigners sold 131 billion won and retail investors offloaded 236 billion won.

Stocks opened sharply higher, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street that stemmed from a plunge in oil prices.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 2.92 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.8 percent, largely as oil prices dipped below $100 a barrel amid talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to start hiking interest rates from near zero this week, as the Ukraine conflict could further jack up U.S. inflation.

"The drop in oil prices played the biggest factor in driving up the stock price. Overnight Wall Street gains and escalating expectations of progress in Russia-Ukraine talks also boosted investor sentiment," HI Investment & Securities analyst Park Sang-hyun said.

Investors also await the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on a possible interest hike at the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week.

Most large caps closed higher, with electronics, chemical and automobiles leading the market.

Samsung Electronics climbed 1.29 percent to 70,400 won, and chipmaker SK hynix jumped 3.56 percent to 116,500 won.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 3.07 percent to 168,000 won, and LG Chem added 0.68 percent to 442,000 won.

Among losers, wireless carrier KT lost 0.15 percent to 33,050 won.

The local currency closed at 1,235.70 won against the dollar, down 7.10 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 20.58 points, or 2.36 percent, to close at 891.8 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 1.8 basis points to 2.270 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond added 0.4 basis point to 2.14 percent.

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