Stocks end sharply higher Tuesday as institutions, foreigners pick up issues

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,249.95 points on Tuesday, up 30.24 points, or 1.36 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday as institutions and foreigners picked up issues ahead of corporate earnings from major companies this week. The won rose against the dollar.

The Kospi rose 30.24 points, or 1.36 percent, to close at 2,249.95 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 572.65 million shares worth some 7.13 trillion won ($5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 800 to 88.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.86 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.43 percent ahead of earnings releases of big names such as Netflix, Tesla, and United Airlines this week.

Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 220 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock selling valued at 233 billion won.

Foreigners have continued to scoop up local stocks in the past 12 sessions through Tuesday.

"Investors remain concerned about high inflation and a possible recession if the Federal Reserve and other central banks continue to raise rates to combat inflation. But this week, they await third-quarter earnings results of major companies including Hyundai Motor," said No Dong-kil, an analyst at Shinhan Investment.

Investors are paying close attention to corporate earnings results of major firms as they seek a clearer picture of how companies are faring in the face of high inflation and other uncertainties, he said.

Most large-cap stocks ended higher.

SK hynix rose 0.6 percent to 95,800 won, Hyundai Motor gained 0.6 percent to 168,000 won and state-run Korea Gas Corporation jumped 4 percent to 34,850 won.

Among decliners, Samsung Electronics fell 0.2 percent to 56,500 won, car battery maker LG Energy Solution declined 0.5 percent to 489,000 won, and refiner S-Oil shed 0.4 percent to 82,500 won.

The won closed at 1,422.70 won against the dollar, down 12.60 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 15.09 points, or 2.21 percent, to close at 697.09 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 0.5 basis points to 4.236 percent, and the yield on 10-year government bonds climbed 7.4 basis points to 4.274 percent.

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