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Roundup: S.Korean shares rise for 3 days on foreign purchase

Xinhua, July 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korean shares ended in positive territory for three straight days on Thursday as foreigners bought more shares than they bought, shrugging off worries about the so- called Grexit, or Greek exit from the eurozone.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 9.44 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,107.33 at the close. It was the highest close in about a month. Trading volume stood at 559.47 million shares worth 6.95 trillion won (6.18 billion U.S. dollars).

The debt-ridden Greece had faced a technical default as the European country failed to repay debts from the IMF, but market watchers expected the Greece crisis not to reach the worse-case scenario.

Investors showed attitude to wait and see the result of the July 5 referendum in Greece about austerity measures, which would determine the fate of the European country.

Foreign investors raised stock holdings by 100 billion won, leading the market advance. Institutional and retail investors sold shares worth 98 billion won and 4 billion won respectively.

Large-cap shares ended mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.3 percent, and the state-run power supplier Korea Electric Power Corp. gained 0.5 percent. Leading cosmetics maker Amore Pacific climbed 3.3 percent, and top life insurer Samsung Life Insurance rose 0.5 percent.

Memory chip giant SK Hynix declined 1.6 percent, and the biggest automaker Hyundai Motor slid 0.7 percent. Cheil Industries, the de-facto holding company of Samsung Group, fell 0.6 percent, and the most-used search engine Naver retreated 2.1 percent.

The tech-laden KOSDAQ increased 1.1 percent to settle at 768.67, topping this year's high. It was the highest close since November 2007. Market capitalization of the KOSDAQ totaled 209 trillion won, posting the record high.

The South Korean currency finished at 1,125.2 won against the greenback, down 7.5 won from Wednesday's close.

Bond prices ended lower. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes rose 2.3 basis points to 1.828 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds gained 5.9 basis points to 2.530 percent. Endi