Stocks move up while foreigners continue buying spree

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,687.44 points on Monday, up 1.17 percent, or 31.11 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Stocks closed over 1 percent higher Monday on advances in battery and chemical shares amid a slump in tech. The local currency slightly fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 31.11 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 2,687.44.

Trade volume was moderate at 461 million shares worth 10.2 trillion won ($7.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 719 to 165.

Foreigners remained net buyers for a second consecutive session, scooping up a net 415.9 billion won worth of local shares, with institutions net purchasing 330.7 billion won. Retail investors offloaded a net 690.6 billion won.

The Kospi had opened higher on the back of Wall Street gains prompted by the better-than-anticipated earnings of tech firms.

The Dow Jones advanced 0.40 percent to close at 38,239.66 on Friday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq surging 2.03 percent to 15,927.90.

"The Kospi closed up more than 1 percent, helped by both foreigners and institutions net purchasing local shares following sharp drops in technology stocks in the previous session," Hana Securities analyst Lim Seung-mi said.

Most large caps closed in positive terrain.

LG Energy Solution gained 1.75 percent to 378,500 won, with Samsung SDS gaining 0.19 percent to 158,900 won.

LG Chem spiked 5.89 percent to 395,500 won, with pharmaceutical producer Celltrion soaring 4.02 percent to 183,700 won.

Hyundai Motor gained 0.80 percent to 251,500 won, while Kia added 0.08 percent to 118,300 won.

But Samsung Electronics closed flat at 76,700 won, while SK hynix retreated 1.07 percent to 175,900 won.

IT firms closed bullish, with Naver rising 1.76 percent to 184,700 won and Kakao increasing 2.54 percent to 48,500 won.

The local currency closed at 1,377.00 won against the U.S. greenback, up 1.70 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 12.90 points, or 1.51 percent, to close at 869.72.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 0.4 basis points to 3.552 percent, and the return on benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds fell 4 basis points to 4.665 percent.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN, YONHAP [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]