SEOUL– South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday after the three-day national holiday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from robust earnings reports. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 44.48 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 2,707.82 points.
Trading volume was moderate at about 429 million shares worth some 12.3 trillion won (US$10.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 811 to 90.
Institutions bought a net 51 billion won and foreigners purchased 85 billion won, while retail investors offloaded 136 billion won.
Stocks got off to a bullish start after the three-day holiday that began Monday.
The KOSPI gained ground throughout the session, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.5 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.63 percent Wednesday.
“Today’s gain is largely attributed to the technical rebound (from the recent stock plunge). Investors seem to have chipped in for oversold stocks and expectations of strong chip demand,” said Meritz Securities analyst Lee Jin-woo.
Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.
KOSPI’s top cap Samsung Electronics closed unchanged from the previous session at 73,300 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 2.9 percent to 124,000 won.
Internet portal operator Naver moved up 3.39 percent to 320,500 won, with LG Chem jumping 5.95 percent to 677,000 won.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.06 percent to 191,500 won, and LG Energy Solution jumped 6 percent to 477,000 won.
The local currency closed at 1,206.4 won against the U.S. dollar, fell 0.9 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys lost 3.1 basis points to 2.158 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond fell 2.3 basis points to 2.373 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency