SEOUL– South Korean stocks climbed more than 1 percent on Friday, extending their winning streak to a third day, on the back of strong U.S. futures and tech gains. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.
After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 42.44 points, or 1.57 percent, to close at 2,750.26 points.
Trading volume was moderate at about 527 million shares worth some 11.1 trillion won (US$9.3 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 767 to 122.
Institutions and foreigners bought a net 214.4 billion won and 194.3 billion won, respectively, while retail investors offloaded 414.6 billion won.
Stocks got off to a bullish start despite overnight losses on Wall Street following the “earning shock” of Facebook’s parent company.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 3.7 percent amid worries over tightening monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5 percent, and the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.4 percent.
Analysts, however, said U.S. online retailer Amazon.com’s upbeat surprise earnings resulted in positive sentiment among investors.
“Investor sentiment improved following strength in U.S. Nasdaq equity futures, and reopening-related stocks also traded bullish on the possibility of loosening antivirus measures,” Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said.
Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.
Tech shares were bullish, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics closing 0.95 percent higher to 74,000 won. No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 2.9 percent to 124,000 won to continue a three-day winning streak. LG Energy Solution jumped 5.6 percent to close at 504,000 won.
Internet portal operator Naver moved up 2.18 percent to 327,500 won, and LG Chem inched up 0.15 percent to 678,000 won.
Among losers, top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 0.78 percent to 190,000 won, and leading pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics lost 0.38 percent to 769,000 won.
The local currency closed at 1,197 won against the U.S. dollar, up 9.4 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 3.6 basis points to 2.194 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond was up 4.5 basis points to 2.418 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency