Seoul stocks inch up on institutional buying

South Korean stocks edged up Tuesday after a choppy session, led by institutional buying. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 2.26 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,962.46 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 699 million shares worth some 9.6 trillion won ($8.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 540 to 317.

Institutions bought a net 274 billion won, while foreigners sold 138 billion won. Retail investors offloaded a net 154 billion won.

"Local stocks seem to have posted weak performance due to the absence of positive events," said Samsung Securities analyst Seo Jeong-hoon.

Top cap Samsung Electronics slipped 0.14 percent to 70,500 won, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 1.4 percent to 109,000 won.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics gained 0.36 percent to 826,000 won, with Celltrion jumping 4.31 percent to 205,500 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor declined 0.93 percent to 213,000 won, and electric car battery maker LG Chem dropped 0.26 percent to 769,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,177.2 won against the US dollar, up 5.9 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)