Stocks rise for fifth day as investors cross fingers on rates

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,351.31 points on Tuesday, up 1.12 points, or 0.05 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Shares ended higher Tuesday, extending the winning streak to a fifth day despite concerns over the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes following hawkish Fed officials' comments. The won fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 1.12 points, or 0.05 percent, to close at 2,351.31 points.

Trading volume was moderate at 351.76 million shares worth some 6.6 trillion won ($5.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 441 to 398.

Fed officials from San Francisco and Atlanta signaled the U.S. central bank could raise rates to somewhere over 5 percent, pouring cold water on investor sentiment, analysts said.

"The stock market just inched up as investors remain wary of Thursday's U.S. inflation report and major corporate earnings results later this month," Park Hee-cheol, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities said.

Investors now hope Thursday's U.S. consumer prices will show inflation is moderating, allowing the Fed to slow down plans for further rate hikes, he said.

Institutions bought a net 297 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' and foreigners' combined stock selling valued at 300 billion won.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.5 percent to 60,400 won, SK Telecom declined 1.3 percent to 46,900 won, carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.6 percent to 163,000 won, and SK Innovation shed 2.6 percent to 148,500 won.

Among gainers, SK hynix rose 0.6 percent to 86,500 won, LG Energy Solution climbed 2.1 percent to 473,500 won, and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. gained 0.5 percent to 19,700 won.

LG Energy Solution got a boost from the news that the battery maker is "in talks" with Ford Motor to build a battery cell plant in Turkey.

But SK Innovation declined as its wholly owned unit SK On is considering withdrawing from an initial accord with Ford to build the plant amid higher interest rates and a global economic slowdown.

The local currency closed at 1,244.70 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.2 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq lost 5.16 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 696.05 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 2.4 basis points to 3.556 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds lost 2.4 basis points to 3.537 percent.

BY LEE JAE-LIM, YONHAP [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]