[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares finished slightly higher on July 12, as foreigners continued to buy stocks. The South Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.69 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,991.23.

Trading volume came to 427.4 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won (US$3.80 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 413 to 368.


Foreigners net-purchased 192 billion won worth of shares, while individuals and institutional investors sold a net 194 billion and 48 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.

The main index was choppy, a day after it jumped 0.83 percent from the previous session.

The market was apparently encouraged by strong US job data and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s call for a new round of fiscal stimulus spending.

But its gains were limited on geopolitical risks from South Korea’s decision to allow the US to deploy the THAAD missile defense system on its soil despite fierce opposition from North Korea and China, analysts said.

“A sense of vigilance is necessary as the KOSPI’s fluctuations may widen due to the decision to deploy THAAD,” Kim Jin-young, an analyst at the NH Investment & Securities, said. “There is a likelihood that political tensions will continue for a considerable time, given that China has expressed a strong negative view (of the THAAD decision) and it’s locked in a stand-off with the US in the South China Sea.”

Kim Sung-hwan, a researcher at Bookook Securities, also said a THAAD in Korea is feared to trigger the massive outflow of Chinese capital, a freeze in the Korean Wave and Beijing‘s economic retaliation both directly and indirectly.

Steel, transport and financial industries were bullish, while tech and medical ones underperformed.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics dropped 1.68 percent to 1,464,000 won, while leading automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.76 percent to 132,000 won.

POSCO, the nation’s No. 1 steelmaker, jumped 2.66 percent to 212,500 won and Hyundai Mobis, a major automotive parts supplier, added 2.14 percent to 262,000 won.

STX Heavy Industries, a ship engine components maker, soared 29.91 percent to 5,690 won.

The local currency closed at 1,148.55 won against the US dollar, down 1.3 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)