Seoul stocks close just shy of 3,000 on foreign and institutional buying

The South Korean stock market closed just shy of the 3,000-point mark Monday after a bullish session, led by strong foreign and institutional buying. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 30.72 points, or 1.03 percent, to close at 2,999.52 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 631 million shares worth some 11.2 trillion won ($9.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 626 to 238.

Foreigners bought a net 397 billion won and institutions purchased a net 417 billion won, while retail investors sold 815 billion won.

The key stock index rose back above the 3,000 point for the first time in six sessions, tracking gains on Wall Street and China's estimate-beating retail sales and industrial output in October.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 percent Friday.

Investors are waiting for the virtual summit of the leaders of the US and China set for this week.

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will talk virtually Monday (local time) to discuss bilateral issues.

"(Strong) Chinese data seem to have added uptick momentum for the Kospi," said Mirae Asset Securities analyst Park Gwang-nam.

"Investors are hoping that the US-China talk would help ease the inflation pressure," he added.

In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics advanced 1.13 percent to 71,400 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix surged 4.23 percent to 111,000 won, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics jumped 3.72 percent to 864,000 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor moved up 0.48 percent to 209,000 won, but electric car battery maker LG Chem lost 1.16 percent to 765,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,178.4 won against the US dollar, up 1.2 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)