Local stocks rise despite Chinese tariffs on U.S.
The benchmark Kospi was up 2.26 points, or 0.1 percent from Wednesday, to close at 2,303.71. Trade volume was moderate, with 238.14 million shares worth 5.8 trillion won ($5.2 billion) changing hands and losers outpacing gainers 423 to 382.
Foreigners offloaded a net 215.8 billion won, while individual and institutional investors purchased a net 14.1 billion won and 135.1 billion won each.
“There is no particular negative factor affecting the local bourse besides the U.S.-China trade frictions,” said Kim Sung-hwan, an analyst at Bookook Securities.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.21 percent to 46,900 won to continue a five-day winning streak. SK Hynix, a major chipmaker, lost 2.26 percent to end at 78,000 won, continuing Wednesday’s fall.
LG Electronics jumped 5.93 percent to 80,400 won, reaching the 80,000-won level for the first time since plummeting on July 27 due to sluggish second-quarter results.
Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor lost 1.18 percent to 126,000 won. Kia Motors also slipped 0.31 percent to 32,050 won, whereas its parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis added 0.87 percent to 233,000 won.
Shares of biopharmaceutical companies gained ground, with Samsung BioLogics, a biopharmaceutical affiliate of Samsung, adding 1.32 percent to end at 460,000 won, continuing five days of gains.
Leading mobile game developer Netmarble plunged 11.27 percent to 126,000 won. A day earlier, the company said its second-quarter operating income decreased 40.8 percent on-year to 62.2 billion won. IT giant Naver gained 3.87 percent to 779,000, and its rival Kakao also advanced 5.46 percent to 125,500 won.
The secondary Kosdaq closed at 789.48, up 5.67 points or 0.72 percent from its previous close. Pharmaceutical shares generally showed strong performance on Thursday.
SillaJen jumped 5.6 percent to 62,200 won, but Celltrion Healthcare was down 1.31 percent to 90,100 won. Entertainment company CJ E&M was up 3.73 percent to 245,000 won.
The Korean won closed at 1,117.2 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.7 won from the last session’s close.
The yield on three-year government bonds fell two basis points to 2.05 percent, and the return on 10-year government bonds lost four basis points to 2.54 percent.
BY SONG KYOUNG-SON, YONHAP [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)