An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)
South Korean stocks ended higher Friday as chips and platform shares gathered ground on expectations for a better outlook despite recession woes. The local currency rose against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 5.72 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 2,501.53, extending the winning streak to a second session.
Trading volume was moderate at 762.56 million shares worth 13.64 trillion won ($10.18 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 448 to 423.
The index opened higher, tracking overnight Wall Street gains, but bobbed in and out of positive terrain before ending with modest gains.
Retailers and foreigners bought a net 137.43 billion won and 297.81 billion won worth of shares, respectively, offsetting selling by institutions that amounted to a net 355.86 billion won.
"Strong gains of US tech shares boosted investor sentiment, though recession woes have increased market volatility," Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co., said.
The US economy grew 1.1 percent in the first quarter, sharply down from 2.6 percent in the previous quarter. It also came far below the market estimate of 2 percent, according to US government data.
In Seoul, chipmakers gathered ground, offsetting losses of batteries and chemicals on profit-taking.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.39 percent to 65,500 won after the tech giant Thursday flagged a gradual recovery for semiconductors in the second half of this year as it was cutting memory production. SK hynix advanced 0.79 percent to 89,500 won.
Internet giant Naver jumped 2.18 percent to 192,300 won, and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, spiked 4.12 percent to 58,100 won, tracking US giant Meta Platforms' jump after an upbeat quarterly report.
But leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 1.02 percent to 581,000 won on profit-taking, and top chemical firm LG Chem shed 0.13 percent to 740,000 won.
Samsung SDI sank 2.12 percent to 691,000 won.
Major carmakers also fell, with No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor dropping 2.23 percent to 197,500 won and its affiliate Kia sinking 2.42 percent to 84,500 won.
Among decliners, No. 1 steelmaker Posco Holdings lost 2.58 percent to 377,000 won, and battery components maker Posco Future M fell 1.47 percent to 335,000 won.
The local currency ended at 1,337.7 won against the US dollar, up 0.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
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