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Seoul stocks end 3-day losing streak ahead of U.S. inflation data

Published: 14 Feb. 2023, 18:10

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,465.64 points on Tuesday, up 12.94 points, or 0.53 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks closed up Tuesday ahead of the release of the United States' key inflation data. The local currency gained against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi added 12.94 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 2,465.64, as investors staged a comeback from their losing streak in the last three sessions.

Trading volume was a bit slim at 343.4 million shares worth 6.66 trillion won ($5.24 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 490 to 374.

Institutions and foreign investors combined bought a net 364.58 billion won worth of shares, while retail investors sold off a net 386.9 billion won.

Traders are ready for the U.S.' Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for January, set to be released Tuesday, which will serve as an important indicator of how high U.S. interest rates will move this year.

Overnight, U.S. stocks rallied after a newly released New York Federal Reserve consumer survey, which showed that Americans have lowered their expectations for future income growth, suggested that consumer price data could be in better shape than previously feared.

In Seoul, most top-cap shares finished higher.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.48 percent to close at 63,200 won, and chip maker SK hynix rose 2.87 percent to 93,400 won. LG Electronics jumped 5.69 percent to 113,300 won on rosy expectations of its electric vehicle component business.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution moved up 0.57 percent to 525,000 won, and Samsung SDI climbed 2.21 percent to 739,000 won.

Automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.22 percent to 173,700 won, and its affiliate Kia increased 0.41 percent to 73,500 won.

Portal operator Naver inched up 0.45 percent to 224,000 won, and Kakao, the operator of the mobile messenger KakaoTalk, added 1.09 percent to 65,000 won.

Among losers, Samsung Biologics inched down 0.25 percent to 805,000 won, and KB Financial lost 4.16 percent to 53,000 won.

The local currency ended at 1,269.4 won against the dollar, down 7.9 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 2.4 basis points to 3.429 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds fell 3.2 basis points to 3.703 percent.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [[email protected]]