Seoul shares close higher on Oct. 4

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares ended higher on Oct. 4, as foreign investors turned their interest toward market giants. The Korean won fell against the US greenback.

The benchmark KOSPI added 11.23 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 2,054.86. Trade volume was slim at 314.79 million shares worth 4.83 trillion won (US$4.36 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 505 to 300.

Analysts said an upbeat US manufacturing survey eased concerns about the health of the world’s largest economy and bolstered the dollar, which helped lift sentiment among foreign investors.

Foreigners bought a net 179.69 billion won, while institutions and retail investors offloaded a net 89.91 billion and 89.82 billion won, respectively.

Tech shares advanced ahead of the third-quarter earnings season.

Top market cap Samsung Electronics rose 1 percent to 1,614,000 won as the tech giant was set to release its third-quarter earnings guidance on Oct. 6, and SK hynix, the world’s second-largest chipmaker, increased 3.98 percent to 41,800 won.

Auto shares were in the positive terrain.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor surged 2.58 percent to 139,000 won, and its sister company Kia Motors edged up 0.36 percent to 42,300 won.

In contrast, bio stocks dropped sharply following heavy losses in the previous session.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical, the No. 1 player in the sector, tumbled 7.28 percent to 471,000 won after on Friday it announced that its license for a lung cancer treatment with German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim terminated. Its holding firm Hanmi Science also plunged 8.33 percent to 104,500 won.

The local currency closed at 1,107.8 won against the US dollar, down 6.5 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)