SEOUL—South Korean stocks ended higher on Friday, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbing 27.71 points, or 1.05 percent, to 2,656.33 despite overnight losses in the U.S. markets. The rise was driven by investor purchases in technology and financial sectors. On the other hand, the Korean won weakened against the U.S. dollar.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Trading volume was reported as moderate with 443 million shares valued at 9.93 trillion won (US$7.21 billion) exchanged. According to market data, institutional and foreign investors bought a net 537 billion won, while retail investors sold off 560 billion won worth of shares. The previous session saw the KOSPI fall by 1.76 percent, which analysts believe contributed to the rebound due to perceptions of an excessive prior decline.
Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, also attributed the KOSPI's rise to discussions about a potential bipartisan agreement in the National Assembly regarding a two-year deferral on imposing financial investment income taxes. In sector-specific movements, technology shares saw significant gains, with Samsung Electronics up by 0.52 percent and SK hynix soaring by 4.22 percent. Financial stocks also performed well, with KB Financial and Shinhan Financial experiencing substantial gains.
Conversely, battery and energy shares faced a downturn, with top battery maker LG Energy Solution and leading refiner SK Innovation seeing declines in their stock prices. The local currency closed at 1,375.30 won against the dollar, marking a slight increase from the previous session.