Kospi soars to over 3-yr high on foreign buying spree, eased tariff uncertainties
South Korea's stock market surpassed the 2,900-point mark for the first time in over three years Wednesday, extending its winning streak to a sixth day, thanks to continued foreign inflow and progress in trade talks between the world's two biggest economies.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 35.19 points, or 1.23 percent, to close at 2,907.04, marking the highest level since January 14, 2022, when the index closed at 2,921.92.
Trade volume was heavy at 383.5 million shares worth 12.3 trillion won ($9 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 600 to 281.
Foreign investors continued their purchases of local shares for a sixth consecutive session.
"The Kospi breached the 2,900-point mark on upbeat momentum created by favorable US-China trade negotiations and foreign investors' continued purchase of big-cap shares," Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities, said.
High-level officials from Washington and Beijing held trade talks in London for two days through Tuesday, where they agreed on a framework to carry out measures to resolve their trade disputes on rare earths and technology.
Kim Jae-seung, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, said expectations on the Lee Jae-myung government's policy to boost the local stock market also improved market sentiment.
Lee, who took office last week, has pledged to usher in the 5,000-point era and get rid of the so-called Korea discount, which refers to investors' tendency undervalue South Korean assets due to geopolitical risks or other issues.
Overnight, Wall Street also closed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.25 percent, the S&P 500 adding 0.55 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gaining 0.63 percent.
In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics increased 1.18 percent to 59,900 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 4.12 percent to 240,000 won.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 2.03 percent to 201,000 won, while its sister Kia advanced 2.54 percent to 96,900 won. Hyundai Motor's auto-parts making affiliate, Hyundai Mobis, soared 4.91 percent to 288,500 won.
Major nuclear power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility also surged 6.46 percent to 51,100 won, and Kakao, the operator of the country's dominant mobile messenger, went up 2.8 percent to 51,400 won.
On the other hand, some of the big-cap defense and shipbuilding shares lost ground as investors sought to gain profit following their rally the previous day.
Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace lost 3.31 percent to 905,000 won, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy dropped 2.11 percent to 418,000 won.
Major financial firms also went down, with KB Financial dipping 3.34 percent to 107,200 won and Shinhan Financial losing 1.81 percent to 59,800 won.
The local currency was trading at 1,375.0 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 10.7 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
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