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Tech giants drive market gains with Trump tariffs still on pause

Published: 06 Feb. 2025, 17:49

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,536.75 points on Feb. 6, up 27.48 points, or 1.10 percent, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Stocks rose more than 1 percent Thursday driven by tech giant gains with the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs on pause. The local currency's value fell against the dollar.

The Kospi added 27.48 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 2,536.75, extending the winning streak to a third session.

The index opened higher, tracking overnight increases on Wall Street, and extended gains further.

Trade volume was moderate at 470.03 million shares worth 11.65 trillion won ($6.35 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 596 to 280.

Foreigners and institutions purchased a net 355.78 billion won and 162.28 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors sold a net 607.74 billion won worth of shares.

“Investors digested Trump's tariff policy, though volatility is expected for the time being,” said Han Ji-young, an expert from Kiwoom Securities.

Washington postponed of the implementation of hefty tariffs on Canada and Mexico amid fears of a global trade war.

Top-cap tech shares led the upturn of the index.

Samsung Electronics surged 2.08 percent to 54,000 won, and SK hynix advanced 2.36 percent to 203,500 won.

But leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 0.87 percent to 342,000 won.

Major bio shares gathered ground. Samsung Biologics went up 0.37 percent to 1,089,000 won, and Celltrion climbed 1.51 percent to 181,000 won.

Kakao surged 4.86 percent to 45,300 won, and Naver increased 1.31 percent to 232,000 won.

Carmakers ended mixed. Hyundai Motor dropped 0.49 percent to 203,500 won, while affiliate Kia grew 0.71 percent to 98,800 won.

Steelmaker Posco Holdings gained 0.21 percent to 242,500 won.

Financials lost ground. KB Financial Group dived 6.7 percent to 84,900 won, and Shinhan Financial Group slid 1.38 percent to 50,000 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,447.7 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 3.4 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. Three-year government bond yields remained unchanged at 2.579 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds dropped 8.2 basis points to 4.505 percent.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, YONHAP [[email protected]]