SEOUL-- South Korean stocks climbed for second straight day on Friday as positive quarterly results by major technology firms boosted investor sentiment. The local currency rose sharply against the U.S. dollar.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 27.56 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,695.05. Trading volume was moderate at 962.3 million shares worth 12.4 trillion won (US$9.86 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 566 to 294.
"The U.S. rally, backed by sound earnings, helped spur positive investor sentiment here too," Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co., said.
Estimate-topping results by Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. sent stocks higher, helping the key U.S. indexes erase recent losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.85 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 3.06 percent on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 2.47 percent.
South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics surged 4.01 percent to 67,400 won, after reporting a 51 percent on-year rise in operating profit to 14.1 trillion won in the January-March period, the highest first quarter profit since 2018.
Chip giant SK hynix also jumped 2.74 percent to 112,500 won, with battery maker Samsung SDI advancing 2.17 percent to 611,000 won.
Leading chemical firm LG Chem hiked 3.39 percent to 519,000 won.
In contrast, auto shares lost ground, dented by the government's decision to push back large firms' entry into the secondhand car market for another year amid strong protest from smaller used car dealers.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.33 percent to 186,000 won, while Kia managed to end the session with a 0.12 percent gain after trending downward for most of the day.
In spite of the revived optimism, investors will likely remain anxious next week, as the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to raise the interest rate in the two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday.
"Taking into account that a 'big step' is already a given, the market will take that in as a point where the uncertainty will start to ease," Daishin Securities analyst Moon Nam-joong said, referring to the highly possible 0.5-percentage point rate hike.
The local currency ended at 1,255.90 won against the U.S. dollar, up 16.6 won from Thursday's close, snapping its six-day losing streak, amid repeated verbal warnings from the currency authorities to take steps to stem its sharp fall.
The won's weakness has accelerated in recent sessions amid the prospect of the Fed's aggressive monetary tightening.
Source: Yonhap News Agency