[THE INVESTOR] South Korean stocks continued to rise on Oct. 19, bolstered by Samsung Electronics’ sharp rise. The local currency strengthened against the US greenback.
The benchmark KOSPI edged up 0.51 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,040.94.
Trade volume came to 307.77 million shares worth 4.01 trillion won (US$3.50 billion), with decliners outnumbering advancers 432 to 363.
The broad index started the day’s trade lower, bucking overnight Wall Street gains but soon turned positive as foreigners scooped up shares.
Foreigners net-purchased 226.9 billion won worth of stocks, while institutions and individuals net-sold 208.6 billion won and 17.2 billion won worth of shares, respectively.
Market watchers noted the influence of market bellwether Samsung Electronics hit by the global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 and the eventual termination of its sale.
Samsung Electronics rebounded 2.27 percent to finish at 1,625,000 won and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. lost 1.33 percent to 52,000 won.
Leading automaker Hyundai Motor shed 1.12 percent to 133,000 won, and POSCO, a major steelmaker, was unchanged at 240,000 won.
The dominant internet service provider Naver was down 2.01 percent to 829,000 won.
The biotech and pharmaceutical industry rallied after days of losses amid a shock over the insider trader scandal involving Hanmi Pharmaceutical.
Hanmi gained 0.25 percent to 401,000 won, snapping a four-day losing streak. Myungmoon Pharm jumped 10.84 percent to 5,370 won on expectations of a new drug on mental illness.
Woori Bank advanced 5.02 percent to 12,550 won after announcing its net profits increased 10 percent on-year during the July-September period.
The local currency closed at 1,123.25 won against the US dollar, up 6.15 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys dropped 0.1 basis point to 1.352 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond fell 0.6 basis point to 1.422 percent.
(
theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)
