South Korean stocks climbed Tuesday as investors were buoyed by prospects for ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine and lower oil prices. The Korean won sharply rose against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) went up 11.51 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 2,741.07 points.
Trading volume was moderate at about 720 million shares worth some 9.9 trillion won (US$8.1 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 475 to 386.
Institutions scooped up a net 326.6 billion won while foreign and individual investors offloaded 280.1 billion won and 83 billion won, respectively,
Stocks got off to a bullish start, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street on hopes for talks the between Russia and Ukraine that are set to start later this week.
“Hopes for Russia-Ukraine peace talks boosted investor sentiment,” Mirae Asset Securities analyst Seo Sang-young said, adding that falling oil prices eased recent concerns over inflation.
Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.
Tech shares were bullish, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics closing 0.72 percent higher to 70,200 won. No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 1.69 percent to 120,000 won.
LG Energy Solution climbed 1.03 percent to close at 441,000 won.
Internet portal operator Naver moved up 0.75 percent to 334,000 won, and LG Chem was unchanged at 523,000 won.
Among losers, No. 1 steelmaker POSCO Holdings went down 0.17 percent to 299,000 won and state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. slipped 2.8 percent to 22,550 won.
The local currency closed at 1,219.8 won against the U.S. dollar, up 7.5 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys went down 4.7 basis points to 2.7 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond shed 8 basis points to 2.89 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency