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Shares snap losing streak as Yoon treason investigation begins

Published: 10 Dec. 2024, 16:44 Updated: 10 Dec. 2024, 19:32

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,417.84 points on Monday, up 2.43 percent, or 57.26 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares jumped more than 2 percent on Tuesday to snap a four-session losing streak following the kickoff of investigations into President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration. The won sharply rose in value against the dollar.

The Kospi climbed 57.26 points, or 2.43 percent, to 2,417.84.

Trade volume was moderate at 587 million shares worth 9.05 trillion won ($6.34 billion), with winners overwhelming losers 873 to 48.

Institutions bought a net 459.5 billion won worth of shares while foreign and retail investors combined sold a net 672.8 billion won worth of shares.

The president faces a criminal investigation in connection with treason and other charges related to his short-lived martial law order last week.

On Monday, the Justice Ministry placed Yoon under an overseas travel ban at the request of investigative agencies.

Yoon has entrusted the matter of his term to the ruling party, but the opposition bloc is pushing to oust him through impeachment.

Market experts expressed optimism that the investigation into Yoon's treason case is progressing rapidly, raising hopes for an early resolution to the political turmoil.

“It appears that investors believe the situation has passed its worst phase and is now entering a recovery phase,” said Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities.

“We could see a steady inflow of stock buying for the time being,” the analyst said.

In Seoul, blue chips advanced across the board, with Samsung Electronics rising 1.12 percent to 54,000 won and SK hynix adding 0.89 percent to close at 170,400 won.

Automotive and bio shares traded stronger, with Hyundai Motor jumping 4.73 percent to 210,500 won and Celltrion gaining 4 percent to finish at 182,100 won.

Energy shares gained traction as well, with SK Innovation surging 8.43 percent to 118,300 won.

The won was trading at 1,426.90 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 10.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. Three-year government bond yields remained unchanged at 2.526 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds increased by 4.2 basis points to 4.208 percent.

BY KAYA SELBY, YONHAP [[email protected]]