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Stocks rebound, won weakens as market waits on Nvidia

Published: 26 Feb. 2025, 18:11

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,641.09 points on Feb. 26, up 10.8 points, or 0.41 percent, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Stocks snapped a two-session fall Wednesday, driven by gains from bio and information technology (IT) stocks, ahead of a fourth quarter earnings release from Nvidia this week. The local currency fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi gained 10.8 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 2,641.09.

Trade volume was slim at 377.9 million shares worth 10.9 trillion won ($7.6 billion), with winners beating losers 543 to 335.

Institutions scooped up a net 239.6 billion won, while foreigners and individuals dumped a net 322 billion won and 21 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, Wall Street extended its losses on worries regarding inflation and tariffs after a report on lower-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence for February was released.

Investors are awaiting an earnings report from AI chip giant Nvidia this week while remaining concerned about economic slowdown and U.S. tariffs.

In Seoul, bio and IT shares finished in positive territory.

Celltrion soared 8.73 percent to 189,300 won, and SK bioscience grew 0.54 percent to 46,650 won.

Online portal operator Naver increased 1.31 percent to 231,500 won, and its rival Kakao jumped 5.91 percent to 42,100 won.

Game makers were also strong as NCsoft advanced 2.65 percent to 178,400 won, and Netmarble climbed 1.01 percent to 45,200 won.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor went up 1.23 percent to 205,000 won and Kumho Petro Chemical vaulted 3.32 percent to 118,200 won.

However, tech giant Samsung Electronics retreated 1.05 percent to 56,600 won and defense firm Hanwha Aerospace fell 1.18 percent to 672,000 won.

Hyundai Rotem, the train manufacturing subsidiary of Korea's Hyundai Motor Group, declined 3.93 percent to 85,600 won after announcing a 2.2 trillion won deal to supply trains to Morocco.

The local currency was quoted at 1,433.1 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 2.7 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. Three-year government bond yields fell 0.8 basis points to 2.588 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds fell 10.5 basis points to 4.296 percent.

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