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Seoul shares end higher on tech, auto gains

Published: 17 Jun. 2025, 17:16

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,950.30 points on June 17, up 3.64 points, or 0.12 percent, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares closed slightly higher Tuesday thanks to gains in big-cap tech and auto shares amid persisting military tensions in the Middle East. The won was trading slightly higher against the dollar.

The Kospi gained 3.64 points, or 0.12 percent, to end at 2,950.3, one day after it shot to the highest level in more than 40 months.

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Tuesday's reading continues to mark the highest since Jan. 13, 2022, when the index closed at 2,962.09.

Trade volume was heavy at 923 million shares worth 17.7 trillion won ($13 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 560 to 324.

Retail investors purchased 224.3 billion won worth of local shares, while foreigners and institutions unloaded 113 billion won and 105.6 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, Wall Street gained ground on hopes the military conflict between Israel and Iran would not escalate further after Tehran reportedly expressed hope of resuming talks about its nuclear program, as well as the strong performance of tech shares, boosted by planned discussions on AI at the ongoing Group of 7 (G7) summit in Canada.

Seoul shares traded sharply higher earlier Tuesday but quickly lost steam following reports of U.S. President Donald Trump ending his G7 trip early due to the Israel-Iran conflict, suggesting it may be too soon to expect de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

“The Kospi kicked off strong but trimmed its earlier gains as reports on persisting geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East sapped investors' risk appetite,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

The cancellation of the envisioned summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Trump at the G7 summit also had a negative impact on investor sentiment, Lee added.

In Seoul, large-cap tech and auto shares backed up the Kospi.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics climbed 1.57 percent to 58,100 won, and its chipmaking rival, SK hynix, grew 0.4 percent to 249,000 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor went up 1.74 percent to 205,000 won, with its sister Kia jumping 2.15 percent to 99,600 won.

Major shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean soared 7.85 percent to 92,000 won, but its rival, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, slid 2.78 percent to 436,500 won.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace lost 1.65 percent to 954,000 won, and the country's biggest shipper, HMM, sank 5.25 percent to 23,000 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,362.7 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 1.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys dropped 3.5 basis points to 2.45 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 1.1 basis points to 2.61 percent.

Yonhap