Kospi rises almost 1% as foreigners return to buying

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Kospi rises almost 1% as foreigners return to buying

Published: 22 Nov. 2024, 17:27

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,501.24 points on Friday, up 0.83 percent, or 20.61 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares rose nearly 1 percent to top 2,500 points Friday as foreign investors returned to being net buyers for the first time in 11 sessions.

The benchmark Kospi gained 20.61 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 2,501.24. It is the first time that the main index topped the 2,500-point threshold since it ended at 2,531.66 on Nov. 11.

Trade volume was moderate at 534.9 million shares worth 7.8 trillion won ($5.6 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 514 to 356.

Foreigners scooped up a net 117 billion won to push up the index, snapping its 10-session selling streak that began on Nov. 8.

Institutions also purchased a net 322.7 billion won, while individuals sold a net 534.6 billion won.

Semiconductor shares led the uptick on U.S. AI chip giant Nvidia's better-than-expected third-quarter results earlier this week.

SK hynix, the dominant supplier to Nvidia, jumped 4.68 percent to 176,700 won and Hanmi Semiconductor gained 3.35 percent to 83,400 won. The Kospi lost 3.66 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 677.01.

Samsung Electronics retreated 0.71 percent to 56,000 won.

Battery shares were also winners as LG Energy Solution gained 1.12 percent to 405,000 won and Posco Future M advanced 1.88 percent to 178,400 won.

Hyundai Motor added 0.7 percent to 217,000 won and Kia climbed 0.2 percent to 97,800 won.

Doosan Robotics rose 0.87 percent to 69,400 won on news that the financial watchdog approved its merger plan with Doosan Bobcat, an industrial equipment manufacturer.

The local currency was trading at 1,401.8 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 4.3 won from the previous session, surpassing the 1,400 won threshold for the first time since Nov. 14, when it reached 1,405.1 won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 8.0 basis points to 3.566 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds dropped 1.7 basis points to 3.671 percent.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]