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 closed higher Friday as investors purchased tech and financial blue chips despite overnight losses on Wall Street. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 27.71 points, or 1.05 percent, to 2,656.33. Trade volume was moderate at 443 million shares worth 9.93 trillion won ($7.21 billion). Winners outpaced losers 460 to 405.
Institutions and foreign investors combined bought a net 537 billion won, while retail investors unloaded a net 560 billion won worth of shares.
Overnight, Wall Street lost ground as Meta and other big tech companies retreated as the US economy expanded at a sharply slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter. The S&P 500 dropped 0.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.6 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 percent.
Han JI-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the Kospi apparently gained ground due to the perception of excessive decline in the previous session. The bellwether index fell 1.76 percent on Thursday.
He also attributed the Kospi's rise to the discussions of a possible bipartisan agreement for the National Assembly to pass a two-year deferral for imposing financial investment income taxes.
In Seoul, tech shares led the overall gains, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics rising 0.52 percent to 76,700 won and chip rival SK hynix soaring 4.22 percent to 177,800 won.
Finance stocks enjoyed brisk trading as well, with KB Financial surging 9.67 percent to 76,000 won and Shinhan Financial jumping 7.47 percent to 46,750 won.
Kia, South Korea's No. 2 automaker, also climbed 1.37 percent to 118,200 won after reporting stellar earnings for the first quarter.
In contrast, battery and energy shares traded lower. Top battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 0.13 percent to 372,000 won and leading refiner SK Innovation dropped 0.74 percent to 106,700 won.
The local currency ended at 1,375.30 won against the greenback, up 0.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
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