Kospi shows cautious growth as investors await U.S. price data

Finance

Kospi shows cautious growth as investors await U.S. price data

Published: 13 Aug. 2024, 17:34 Updated: 13 Aug. 2024, 19:36

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,621.50 points on Tuesday, up 0.12 percent, or 3.20 points, from the previous trading session. The Kosdaq fell 1.20 percent, or 7.86 points, to 764.86. [YONHAP]

Shares ended slightly higher Tuesday with investors cautious while awaiting the release of major U.S. data later this week in order to gauge the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction. The local currency gained ground against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi rose 3.2 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,621.50.

Trade volume was a little slim at 372.2 million shares worth 8.8 trillion won ($6.4 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 561 to 322.

Foreigners purchased 131.9 billion won of local shares, offsetting a combined sell-off of 90.7 billion won by retail investors and institutions.

Wall Street finished mixed Monday as investors awaited the release of the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and retail sales data due later this week, which will give further clues as to the direction of the world's blargest economy.

“Heightened caution ahead of the releases of the PPI, CPI and retail sales data has been hampering the market from gaining upward momentum amid weak investor sentiment,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

“The escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are also making it difficult for liquidity to flow into risky assets,” he added, referring to the Israel-Hamas war.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.79 percent to 76,100 won, and SK hynix jumped 2.77 percent to 181,900 won, tracking U.S. chipmaker Nvidia's overnight gains.

Financial firms were also bullish, with KB Financial Group up 2.55 percent to 84,600 won and Shinhan Financial Group up 2.59 percent to 55,500 won.

Samsung Life Insurance soared more than 4.79 percent to 94,000 won.

Krafton, the Korean game developer behind PUBG: Battlegrounds, shot up 12.97 percent to 331,000 won following a second quarter earnings surprise.

The food sector was also strong, with CJ CheilJedang up 3.06 percent to 370,000 won and Nongshim up 2.7 percent to 437,500 won.

But bio firms lost ground, with Samsung Biologics down 1.16 percent to 939,000 won and Celltrion down 3.65 percent to 192,700 won.

Shipping firm HD Hyundai Heavy Industries also slid 2.64 percent to 216,500 won.

Internet portal operator Naver retreated 2.43 percent to 156,400 won, and mobile messenger operator Kakao declined 1.89 percent to 36,400 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,370.4 gained against the greenback as of 3:30 p.m., down 1.6 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 2.7 basis points to 2.919 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year bonds lost 3.8 basis points to 3.905 percent.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN, YONHAP [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]