Seoul shares renew record high after Fed rate cut
Seoul shares closed nearly 1.5 percent higher Thursday to set a new record high after the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest rate cut of the year. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar, Yonhap reports.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 47.90 points, or 1.40 percent, to end at a fresh all-time high of 3,461.30.
Trade volume was moderate at 386.81 million shares worth 12.09 trillion won (US$8.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 589 to 262.
Institutions and foreigners bought a net 428.9 billion won and 283.7 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while individuals sold a net 779.7 billion won.
The main index advanced despite a mixed close on Wall Street, after the Fed lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.00-4.25 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.57 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.33 percent.
"The KOSPI rebounded after the Fed's rate cut, aided by a rebound in technology stocks," Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities Co., said.
In Seoul, technology and auto stocks led the gains.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 2.94 percent to 80,500 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 5.85 percent to 353,000 won.
Samsung Electronics topped the 80,000-won threshold for the first time in 13 months on expectations of improved earnings amid rising memory chip prices.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.16 percent to 218,500 won, and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings advanced 0.35 percent to 284,500 won.
Among decliners, defense firm Hanwha Aerospace fell 0.68 percent to 1,023,000 won and leading shipping firm HMM declined 2.13 percent to 23,000 won.
The local currency was trading at 1,387.80 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 7.7 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 1.5 basis points to 2.403 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds declined 2 basis points to 2.544 percent.
