Stocks rally as tech gains and after weak U.S. jobs report
Published: 05 Apr. 2023, 18:46
Stocks ended higher Wednesday on gains in tech and battery makers, though investors remain concerned about a potential slowdown after the release of weak U.S. economic data. The won rose against the dollar.
The Kospi rose 14.70 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 2,495.21.
Trading volume was moderate at 624.56 million shares worth 9.6 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 458 to 415.
Investors are closely keeping an eye on whether the U.S. economy will chug along or not and which course the Federal Reserve will take after hiking the rates aggressively in the past year to tame inflation.
The weaker-than-expected U.S. job openings released Tuesday may fuel recession fears, according to analysts.
Institutions bought a net 302 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting foreigner and individual stock selling valued at 295 billion won.
Tech, battery and auto stocks led gains.
Samsung Electronics rose 0.5 percent to 63,900 won, and SK hynix climbed 0.1 percent to 84,600 won.
Hyundai Motor gained 1.6 percent to 186,700 won, and car battery maker LG Energy Solution was up 2.3 percent to 588,000 won.
The Korea Exchange banned the short selling of SK hynix shares Wednesday after more than 10 million SK hynix shares worth more than 830 billion won were short sold a day earlier.
Among decliners, Korean Air fell 0.7 percent to 23,000 won.
SK Innovation declined 1.2 percent to 179,100 won, and cosmetics firm AmorePacific shed 1.3 percent to 135,900 won.
The local currency ended at 1,310.50 won against the dollar, down 5.3 won from the previous session's close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds shed 1.7 basis points to 3.263 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds lost 7.6 basis points to 3.341 percent.
BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)