SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) — South Korean stocks inched up Wednesday as investors picked up tech bargains following solid gains on Wall Street over hopes for the Federal Reserve’s slowdown in its aggressive monetary tightening.
After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.84 points, or 0.26 percent, to end at 2,215.22, extending its winning streak to a second straight session.
Trading volume was moderate at 847.91 million shares worth 9.34 trillion won (US$6.62 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 633 to 248.
Institutions sold shares worth 550.52 billion won, while retail and foreign investors bought a net 454.12 billion won and 76.72 billion won worth of shares, respectively.
The market opened sharply higher, tracking U.S. rallies, but had moved between positive and negative terrain before ending with modest gains amid lingering concerns over a global economic recession.
A U.S. job report showed that the number of job openings plunged by the most in about 2 1/2 years in August, which raised hope for the Federal Reserve to rethink its strong push for monetary policy tightening.
“The job data and other latest signs of the U.S. economic slowdown would raise hope for the Fed pivot amid fears of a recession,” Shinhan Investment analyst Choi Yoo-joon said.
“Market volatility is expected to continue for quite some time, as rising oil prices could again flare up inflationary pressure, and many longstanding issues, including the Russia-Ukraine war and rate hike woes, are still here,” the analyst added.
Big-cap tech shares rose to lead the overall market gains.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.45 percent to 56,000 won, and chip giant SK hynix surged 4.18 percent to 89,800 won.
Battery maker LG Energy Solutions soared 5.51 percent to 469,000 won, and Samsung SDI added 2.34 percent to 569,000 won. Major chemical firm LG Chem added 0.9 percent to 560,000 won.
But carmakers lost ground. Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.39 percent to 177,000 won and its affiliate Kia retreated 2.34 percent to 71,100 won.
Bio shares also fell, with Samsung Biologics decreasing 0.49 percent to 807,000 won and Celltrion skidding 0.87 percent to 171,500 won.
Internet giant Naver sank 7.08 percent to a fresh 52-week low of 164,000 won following a big drop in the previous session, as it sought a 2.3 trillion-won deal to buy Poshmark Inc., a U.S. second-hand fashion platform.
Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger Kakao Talk, also fell 2.5 percent to 54,500 won.
The local currency ended at 1,410.1 won against the U.S. dollar, up 16.4 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 7.6 basis points to 4.157 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond rose 8.3 basis points to 4.132 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency