Shares advance after Trump delays tariffs
Published: 04 Feb. 2025, 17:02
Updated: 04 Feb. 2025, 18:41
-
- KIM JU-YEON
- [email protected]
![A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,481.69 points on Feb. 4, up 27.74 points, or 1.13 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/04/543adc93-fef6-4806-92e4-99bddf63add8.jpg)
A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,481.69 points on Feb. 4, up 27.74 points, or 1.13 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]
Shares closed more than 1 percent higher Tuesday as investors shored up blue chips following Washington's decision to postpone the imposition of tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. The won rose in value against the dollar.
The Kospi rose 27.74 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,481.69.
Trade volume was high at 473 million shares worth 18.8 trillion won ($7.39 billion), with winners outpacing losers 690 to 207. Institutions and foreign investors combined bought a net 205.7 billion won worth of local shares, while retail investors sold a net 296 billion won.
On Monday, the Kospi plummeted 2.52 percent amid concerns regarding the United States' decision last week to impose high tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, potentially affecting Korean businesses operating there.
But U.S. President Donald Trump later paused the imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month, as the two countries unveiled new plans to fend off drug trafficking at their borders.
“The domestic stock market seems to have rebounded, driven by perceptions of excessive declines in the previous session and the news of postponed U.S. tariff impositions against Mexico and Canada,” said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
Blue chips gained ground across the board, with Samsung Electronics jumping 3.33 percent to 52,700 won and LG Electronics gaining 0.26 percent to 78,400 won.
Shipbuilders and financial shares also advanced. Hanwha Ocean soared 6.65 percent to 60,900 won while KB Financial climbed 2.82 percent to 91,300 won.
Gaming company Krafton rose 0.69 percent to 362,500 won following news of a meeting between executives and OpenAI founder Sam Altman in Seoul regarding potential cooperation.
Kakao, however, fell 2.15 percent to 40,900 won despite having announced its partnership with OpenAI earlier in the day.
The local currency was trading at 1,462.9 won against the dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 4.3 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. Three-year government bond yields rose 1.1 basis points to 2.586 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds gained 2.3 basis points to 4.56 percent.
BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)