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Seoul stocks make strong advance after holiday

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  • Published KST
  • Updated KST

A currency trader watches his mobile phone in the foreign exchange dealing room at KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, Feb. 3. 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. AP-Yonhap

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 KOSPI rose 44.48 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 2,707.82.

Trading volume was moderate at about 429 million shares worth 12.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 811 to 90.

Institutional and foreign investors net bought a respective 51 billion won and 85 billion won, while retail investors offloaded 136 billion won.

Shares 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.

The KOSPI's top cap Samsung Electronics closed unchanged from the previous session at 73,300 won, while 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, down 0.9 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)