Steel, shipbuilders lead 3rd-consecutive up day
Seoul stock markets rose for the third-straight day, bolstered by sharp rises in shipbuilding and steel shares. The benchmark Kospi rose 8.57 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 1,881.81.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slid 2.5 percent to close at 576,000 won ($614). Steelmaker Posco, meanwhile, surged 3.1 percent to close at 592,000 won, pushing Samsung out of the position of having the most expensive shares on Korea’s bourse.
Blue chip shares did well. Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 2.2 percent, and Kookmin Bank, Korea’s No. 1 financial firm, inched up 0.8 percent. No. 2 Shinhan Financial Group added 0.5 percent.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering rose 2.5 percent, and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard added 2.5 percent. Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 2.2 percent.
SK Energy shot up 12.8 percent after the Korea Exchange, the operator of Seoul stocks and futures markets, announced yesterday the firm’s shares will be added to the Kospi 200 index.
Hyundai Motor Company climbed 1.6 percent after its management accepted most of the demands of its labor union, fanning speculation that a looming strike is unlikely to happen.
Hyundai Engineering and Construction added 5.2 percent as analysts bet the company will benefit from the planned South-North Korea presidential summit.
“Hyundai Construction’s asset value is expected to be readjusted if the Culture Ministry approves the Tae-an corporate city project in mid-September,” Heo Moon-wook, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said in a report yesterday.
Trading volume was 380.2 million shares, worth 4.9 trillion won. Winners beat losers, 432 to 356.
The tech-heavy Kosdaq climbed 3.76 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 778.89. Trading volume was 591.9 million shares, worth 1.8 trillion won. Gainers beat losers, 475 to 467.
By Jung Ha-won Staff Writer [hawon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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