[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares closed slightly higher on Oct. 10, amid mounting expectations of favorable third-quarter earnings, analysts said. The Korean won also gained against the US dollar.
The benchmark KOSPI closed at 2,056.82, adding 0.15 percent or 3.02 points. Trading volume was slim at 309 million shares, worth 4.56 trillion won (US$4.11 billion) with gainers outnumbering losers 451 to 357.
Institutional investors were sole net purchasers, scooping up 333.5 billion won worth of local shares, while foreign investors sold a net 42 billion won. Retail investors offloaded a net 289.4 billion won.
The index opened sharply lower as investors apparently sought to cash in early gains after Samsung Electronics closed at a record high of 1,706,000 won on Oct. 7.
Samsung shares plunged 1.52 percent to 1,680,000 won as a report of the tech giant temporarily suspending its production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone also spooked investors.
Samsung is currently undertaking a voluntary global recall of the smartphone for battery-related problems that may cause the battery to catch fire under certain conditions.
Top portal operator Naver surged 3.44 percent to 872,000 won, while global steelmaker POSCO added 1.33 percent to 229,000 won.
Local industry leader Hyundai Motor lost 2.20 percent to 133,500 won after the government filed a complaint with the prosecution against the carmaker for hiding problems related to air bags installed in its cars to avoid making a recall.
The local currency closed at 1,108.40 won against the US greenback, up 7.10 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 0.9 basis point to 1.335 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond added 3.5 basis points to 1.378 percent.
(
theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)
