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Kospi rises with SK hynix, Kia soaring

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 16:46

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,521.90 points on Jan. 9, up 0.03 percent, or 0.85 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Seoul shares ended higher Thursday, aided by SK hynix and foreign buying while investors eyed Friday's U.S. jobs report. The won fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi added 0.85 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 2,521.90, extending their winning streak to a fifth session. The Kosdaq rose 3.89 points, or 0.54 percent, to 723.52.

Trade volume was moderate at 399.52 million shares worth 11.38 trillion won ($7.8 billion), with decliners outnumbering winners 519 to 362.

Foreigners bought a net 746 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting institutions and individuals' combined stock selling valued at 831 billion won.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Chipmaker SK hynix jumped 5.29 percent to 205,000 won, carmaker Kia climbed 2.28 percent to 103,300 won, Celltrion rose 0.54 percent to 185,500 won, national flagship carrier Korean Air was up 2 percent to 23,350 won and defense company Hanwha Aerospace soared 2.35 percent to 392,000 won.

Korea Zinc gained 2.77 percent to 927,000 won amid its ongoing feud with Young Poong and MBK Partners over management control. The company's shareholder meeting is set to take place on Jan. 23.

Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 2.09 percent to 56,100 won, LG Chem dropped 2.92 percent to 249,000 won, Samsung SDI slipped 4.21 percent to 239,000 won and steelmaker Posco Holdings dropped 0.95 percent to 261,000 won.

Naver dropped 2.17 percent to 202,500 won and Kakao fell 0.53 percent to 37,200 won.

Banks closed mixed. KB Financial rose 1.29 percent to 86,700 won and Shinhan Financial Group was up 0.71 percent to 49,500 won, but Meritz Financial Group went down 0.19 percent to 103,900 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,460.50 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 5.5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. Three-year government bond yields fell 0.8 basis points to 2.500 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds rose by 2.3 basis points to 4.702 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]