Off the wire
• Tokyo stocks close lower on Wall Street's slump, yen's rise  • China Exclusive: Tangshan survivor recalls loss 40 years after quake  • 122 IS militants killed in eastern Afghanistan  • Yahoo Australia to operate as per normal for now  • Population of Thai tigers planned to rise by 50 percent in next several years  • Anti-terror high on ASEAN police summit agenda  • First Xiamen Airlines flight touches down in N.America  • China treasury bond futures close higher Tuesday  • China Hushen 300 index futures close higher Tuesday  • Chinese shares close higher Tuesday  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: S.Korean shares rise to year's high on foreign purchases

Xinhua, July 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Korean shares rose on Tuesday to this year's high as foreign investors kept their buying trend for 14 straight sessions.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 15.02 points, or 0.75 percent, to settle at 2,027.34. It was the highest close in 2016. Trading volume stood at 332.21 million shares worth 3.93 trillion won (3.46 billion U.S. dollars).

Foreigners were net buyers in the local stock market for the 14th consecutive session, offsetting stock sales by institutional and individual investors who sold stocks worth 5.6 billion won and 176 billion won respectively. Foreign investors raised stock holdings by 189 billion won.

Expectations emerged for the U.S. Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates at a fast pace due to lingering uncertainties over the global economy. The Fed is scheduled to end its regular monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan (BOJ) would announce its rate-setting meeting result this week.

Market watchers said that if the Fed hints at its rate hike as early as September, investors would try to lock in recent profits, but experts forecast a modest upward trend in the KOSPI amid the correction moves.

Most of large-cap shares gained ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 1.9 percent, the first rise in three sessions. Top automaker Hyundai Motor inched up 0.4 percent on the back of better-than-expected earnings result in the second quarter.

The state-run power supplier Korea Electric Power Corp. climbed 1.3 percent, and Samsung C&T, the de-facto holding company of Samsung Group, added 1.5 percent. Top life insurer Samsung Life Insurance edged up 0.2 percent, and the biggest steelmaker POSCO gained 2 percent.

Memory chip giant SK Hynix declined 1.4 percent as it posted the lowest operating profit in 13 quarters during the April-June period.

Local currency appreciated versus the dollar on expectations for delayed U.S. interest rate hike. South Korea's currency finished at 1,134.9 won against the greenback, up 2.1 won from Monday's close.

Bond prices ended higher. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes lost 0.5 basis points to 1.220 percent, and returns on the benchmark 10-year government bonds fell 0.9 basis points to 1.411 percent. Endit