Shares advance for third straight session Tuesday

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,533.52 points on Tuesday, up 5.58 points, or 0.22 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Shares advanced for a third straight session Tuesday amid investors' speculation that central banks in major economies may tone down their monetary tightening after weak economic data from China. The won fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 5.58 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 2,533.52 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 389 million shares worth some 7.9 trillion won ($6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 421 to 414.

Institutions sold a net 25.0 billion won, and retail investors offloaded 53.1 billion won. Foreigners bought a net 57.8 billion won.

Stocks got off to a solid start despite weaker-than-expected July retail sales and industrial output from China, the country's top trading partner.

The 12-month expected inflation from the U.S. also fell from a month ago, raising optimism that the Federal Reserve may slow down its hawkish rate-hike moves.

The Kospi's gain was led by big tech, usually more sensitive to borrowing costs due to high investment expenses.

"Investors seem to have interpreted the weak data from China and the U.S. as a sign that can lessen the inflation pressure. Local stock markets seem to have digested this factor after the holiday break," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.

Samsung Electronics advanced 1.33 percent to 61,000 won as its de facto chief Lee Jae-yong was granted a presidential pardon last week over a bribery case involving a former Korean president.

SK hynix jumped 3.64 percent to 96,700 won, following U.S. Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates' visit to Seoul. On Monday, SK Group's two key affiliates said they will jointly develop next-generation technologies for small modular reactors (SMRs) with U.S. nuclear reactor design firm TerraPower, founded by Gates.

The local currency closed at 1,308.1 won against the U.S. dollar, up 5.7 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq advanced 3.11 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 834.74 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds dropped 10.7 basis points to 3.083 percent, and the yield on the 10-year government bond dropped 5.2 basis points to 2.79 percent.

BY LIM JEONG-WON, YONHAP [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]