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Kospi gains 1.73% as tech shares follow Wall Street trend

Published: 17 Mar. 2025, 17:33 Updated: 17 Mar. 2025, 18:06

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,610.69 points on March 17, up 9.25 points, or 1.26 percent, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares finished markedly higher on Monday, led by gains of Samsung Electronics and other tech shares tracking their Wall Street peers despite lingering concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff scheme.

The benchmark Kospi added 44.33 points, or 1.73 percent, to close at 2,610.69, ending a two-day losing streak. The Kosdaq rose 9.25 points, or 1.26 percent, to close at 743.51.

Trade volume was moderate at 391.15 million shares worth 11.82 trillion won ($8.16 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 529 to 355.

Foreigners and institutions bought a net 624.51 billion won and 498.69 billion won worth of local shares, respectively, while retail investors sold a net 1.18 trillion won worth of shares.

The index opened higher before further extending gains after U.S. shares jumped Friday on bargain hunting for recently battered tech blue chips as investors shrugged off concerns about an economic slowdown and a global trade war.

Also contributing to improved investor sentiment was China's announcement on Sunday of a plan to boost domestic consumption, according to analysts.

Samsung Electronics went up 5.3 percent to 57,600 won, and SK hynix advanced 0.73 percent to 206,000 won.

The strong performance of tech blue chips came as GTC 2025, or the GPU Technology Conference 2025, an annual event hosted by Nvidia, was to kick off in California from Monday through Friday with a focus on artificial intelligence, robotics and other advanced technologies.

Samsung Biologics surged 1.71 percent to 1,069,000 won, and Celltrion grew 0.91 percent to 187,800 won.

LG Energy Solution shed 0.46 percent to 325,000 won, and SK Innovation plunged 4.39 percent to 126,200 won.

Hyundai Motor inched up 0.25 percent to 199,000 won, but Kia dropped 0.7 percent to 98,800 won.

Among gainers, Hanwha Aerospace surged 6.81 percent to 753,000 won, while Posco Holdings added 0.82 percent to 307,000 won.

Naver increased 1.44 percent to 211,000 won, and Kakao rose 0.12 percent to 43,500 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,447.9 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 5.9 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended lower. Three-year government bonds' yield rose 0.4 basis points to 2.601 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds rose 4.4 basis points to 4.313 percent.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]