Seoul shares shot up 1.44 pct on eased China woes

South Korean stocks rose two sessions in a row on Thursday on rising hopes for additional stimulus measures by China. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 27.91 points, or 1.44 percent, to 1,962.11, paring its earlier losses. Trading volume was slim at 454.8 million shares worth 5.4 trillion won ($4.52 billion), with winners beating decliners sharply at 631 to 175.

"The index started lower as overnight global markets finished bearish on concerns over a Chinese slowdown and a possibly higher U.S. rate," said Kwak Hyun-soo from Shinhan Investment Corp. "But investors increased bets on risky assets in the afternoon on hope for China's stimulus steps.

"Still, it's too early to say that the KOSPI is on an upside cycle. The market will remain vulnerable to internal and external drags until the U.S. Fed's monetary meeting next week," said Kwak.

Big-cap shares led the rally, with Korea Electric Power Corp., the third-largest company by market cap, rising 3.36 percent to 49,250 won and Korea Gas Corp. soaring 8.27 percent to 41,900 won.

No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor added 0.64 percent to 156,500 won and its sister Kia Motors advanced 1.39 percent to 51,100 won.

Some Samsung Group shares finished bullish, with Cheil Industries, the group's de facto holding company, advancing 3.03 percent to 170,000 won and Samsung SDS, its IT solution unit, picking up 2.37 percent to 281,000 won.

Samsung Electronics, however, fell 1.13 percent to 1,134,000 won and LG Electronics fell 1.6 percent to 46,250 won following the release of new products by Apple Inc.

The local currency closed at 1,194.4 won against the U.S. dollar, down 5 won from Wednesday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 3.0 basis points to 1.650 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 1.3 basis points to 1.856 percent. (Yonhap)