Stocks little changed as bond buying falls flat

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,170.93 points on Thursday, up 1.64 points, or 0.08 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended almost flat Thursday, shedding nearly all earlier gains amid woes that combative monetary tightening moves in major economies would lead to a global economic recession. The won rose slightly against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi added 1.64 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 2,170.93, after hitting an intraday high of 2,210.61.

On Wednesday, the index hit an over 2-year low on growing concerns over a global recession.

Trading volume was moderate at about 499 million shares worth some 7.1 trillion won ($4.9 billion), with gainers slightly outnumbering losers 440 to 417.

Institutions offloaded a net 2 billion won worth of shares and retail investors a net 223.3 billion won. Foreigners bought a net 219.5 billion won.

The market opened higher, tracking overnight Wall Street gains on the bond buying by the Bank of England to stabilize its financial markets.

But investor sentiment was again dampened by growing fears of a global economic slowdown.

"The bond buying only temporarily eased concerns but did not remove them entirely. So the market became suspicious over time," Huh Jae-hwan, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, adding investors will closely watch the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index this week and employment data next week.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics inched down 0.57 percent to close at 52,600 won, and chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.49 percent to 80,800 won.

Battery maker LG Energy Solutions rose 1.5 percent to 440,000 won, automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.11 percent to 181,500 won, and its affiliate Kia also added 0.81 percent to 74,500 won. LG Chem climbed 0.18 percent to 547,000 won.

The local currency ended at 1,438.90 won against the dollar, down 1 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 1.20 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 675.07 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds advanced 10.7 basis points to 4.323 percent, and the yield on the 10-year government bond fell 0.4 basis points to 4.227 percent.

BY CHO JUNG WOO, YONHAP [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]