Shares close higher as investors pick up large-cap chipmakers

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,728.21 points on Thursday, up 9.52 points, or 0.35 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Shares closed higher on Thursday as institutional investors picked up large-cap chipmakers. The won weakened against the dollar.

After a choppy session, the benchmark Kospi went up 9.52 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,728.21 points.

Around 988 million shares worth some 9.9 trillion won ($8 billion) changed hands, with gainers slightly outnumbering losers 443 to 400.

Institutions scooped up a net 636.9 billion won worth of stocks, while foreigners and individuals offloaded a net 57.7 billion won and 566.7 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, the U.S. stock markets ended mixed due to Netflix's slump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.71 percent due to IBM's rise, while the S&P500 fell 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq was down 1.22 percent.

"Investors' appetite for risky assets improved as U.S. futures strengthened," Daeshin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said.

Samsung Electronics went up 0.45 percent to 67,700 won, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.11 percent to 437,000 won. Chipmaker SK hynix added 0.44 percent to 113,000 won.

In contrast, Naver went down 1.9 percent to 309,500 won due to its disappointing first-quarter earnings report. Kakao dipped 1.58 percent to 96,600 won.

Pharmaceutical company SK bioscience declined 1.49 percent to 132,000 won, while Samsung Biologics inched up 0.12 percent to 806,000 won. Celltrion closed unchanged at 159,500 won.

Game publisher Netmarble moved up 0.49 percent to 102,000 won, while NCSoft retreated 0.68 percent to 437,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,239 won against the dollar, up 2.9 won from the previous session.

The Kosdaq climbed 0.75 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 929.68 points.

Battery material supplier EcoPro BM dipped 0.13 percent to 474,500 won. Game developer Pearl Abyss decreased 3.51 percent to 93,400 won and Kakao Games slipped 0.31 percent to 64,600 won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds declined 4.1 basis points to 2.920 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond dropped 10.2 basis points to 2.83 percent.

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