SEOUL– South Korean stocks rebounded Friday ahead of a national holiday, ending a five-day losing streak on bargain hunting. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 48.85 points, or 1.87 percent, to close at 2,663.34 points.
Trading volume was high at about 427 million shares worth some 13.6 trillion won (US$11.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 855 to 59.
Institutions bought a net 391 billion won and retail investors purchased 267 billion won, while foreigners dumped 693 billion won.
Stocks came off to a volatile start after the key stock index closed at a 14-month low the previous day due to the U.S. rate hike concerns and LG Energy Solution’s crash upon its market debut.
After briefly plunging below the 2,600-point mark in the morning, the KOSPI rebounded on strong advances by chip and chemical heavyweights.
Stocks further gained ground in the afternoon as institutions and retail investors scooped up local stocks ahead of the three-day Lunar New Year holiday that starts Monday.
“The recent market crash seems to have triggered investors’ bottom-fishing move,” Samsung Securities analyst Seo Jeong-hoon said.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 2.81 percent to 73,300 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix surged 6.17 percent to 120,500 won.
LG Chem moved up 4.75 percent to 639,000 won, and internet portal operator Naver gained 2.31 percent to 310,000 won.
Among losers, LG Energy Solution, the second most valued stock on the main bourse, plunged 10.89 percent on its second day of trading.
The local currency closed at 1,205.5 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.7 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys lost 2.8 basis points to 2.189 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond fell 3.6 basis points to 2.396 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency