Korean stocks finished nearly unchanged on Thursday, the last trading day of the year, as gains among tech and retail shares countered bank losses, analysts said.
The local currency climbed against the U.S. currency.
After declining as much as 1 percent in earlier trading, the KOSPI edged up 0.03 percent, or 0.62 points, to 1,825.74. Trading volume was moderate at 335 million shares worth 3.39 trillion won ($2.94 billion) with gainers leading losers 476 to 337.
“The KOSPI fell in the early morning as weak stocks in the U.S. and Europe dented investor sentiment,” said Lee Jae-man, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities Inc. “But investors who sought bargains after several days of decline helped erase the loss.”
The weak euro currency and worries about Italy’s bond sales rattled the market in the morning.
Retail investors sold a net 98.9 billion won and foreign investors also turned to the net seller position, cutting a net 14.4 billion.
Retail companies and tech exporters, however, helped reverse the fall.
Retailers gained ground on expectations that the year-end holidays had boosted sales. Hyundai Department Store rose 3.82 percent to 163,000 won and Lotte Shopping added 0.74 percent to 339,500 won.
LG Display jumped 3.59 percent to 24,500 won after the company said it reached an agreement with its employees at a Chinese plant to end a three-day strike, and production will resume soon.
However, financial companies and banks added downward pressure to the Seoul bourse, as investors fretted the eurozone debt crisis would hit local financial companies.
KB Financial Group fell 1.09 percent to 36,300 won and Korea Exchange Bank was down 1.34 percent to 7,350 won.
The local currency closed at 1,151.8 won to the greenback, up 4.2 won from Wednesday’s close, as Bank of Korea said Korea’s current account surplus hit its highest level in 13 months, dealers said.
Korea’s financial markets will be closed on Friday. Its first trading day of the new year is Monday.
