Stocks rise Tuesday as investors pick up big-cap tech bargains

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,451.71 points on Monday, up 13.52 points, or 0.55 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks rose Tuesday as investors picked up big-cap tech bargains following a sharp fall the previous session. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 13.52 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,451.71. Trading volume was moderate at 443.14 million shares worth 7.48 trillion won ($5.96 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 496 to 374.

Despite overnight losses on Wall Street, the Kospi opened slightly higher and moved within a tight range before extending gains on solid buying by individuals.

Retail investors bought a net 326.84 billion won, while institutions and foreigners sold a net 273.61 billion won and 62.7 billion won worth of local stocks, respectively.

"Investors have sought market direction following sharp gains in January, as there's a divergence of opinions by major institutions, policymakers and market analysts on the outlook for the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.

An unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs report has raised the prospect of more Fed rate hikes, and investors are awaiting Chairman Jerome Powell's speech before the Economic Club of Washington on Tuesday (local time). Last week, the U.S. central bank delivered a 25 basis point rate hike as expected.

Investors have also watched the developments regarding a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which had flown over North America before being shot down last week, according to analysts.

Large-cap tech stocks drove up the main index.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.49 percent to 61,900 won, and SK hynix rose 1.91 percent to 90,800 won.

Bio shares also gathered ground, with Samsung Biologics climbing 0.74 percent to 813,000 won and Celltrion inching up 0.06 percent to 166,400 won.

The local currency ended at 1,255.3 won against the dollar, up 2.5 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 5.3 basis points to 3.336 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds climbed 12.1 basis points to 3.643 percent.

On Tuesday, Korea announced a set of measures to expand its foreign exchange market to foreign investors as part of efforts to attract more global players to the local market.

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