South Korean stocks ended higher Thursday, as US rallies and eased concerns over high global energy prices boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won gained ground against the US dollar.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 22.31 points, or 0.93 percent, to close at 2,409.16, extending the winning streak to the second consecutive session. It is the highest figure since June 28, when the KOSPI closed at 2,422.09.
Trading volume was small at 290.45 million shares worth 6.19 trillion won ($4.73 billion), with gainers outstripping decliners 563 to 266..
The KOSPI opened higher, following Wall Street gains on robust corporate earnings, and had extended gains further on solid foreign buying.
Foreign investors picked up shares worth a net 438.73 billion won, while retail investors and institutions shed shares worth 335.24 billion won and 106.74 billion won, respectively.
"Recent rallies of US shares on the back of better-than-expected corporate earnings set a positive tone overall for investors," HI Investment & Securities analyst Park Sang-hyun said.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.15 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 1.58 percent, both of which reached the highest closing level since early June.
"Concerns over aggressive monetary tightening appear to have been reflected so far, and the recent fall in oil prices helped ease inflation woes," he added.
In Seoul, tech and chemicals led the overall market advance.
Market behemoth Samsung Electronics surged 2.15 percent to 61,800 won, and major chipmaker SK hynix added 0.49 percent to 102,500 won.
Battery giant LG Energy Solution grew 1.69 percent to 390,500 won, and leading chemical firm LG Chem surged 5.37 percent to 569,000 won.
Internet portal operator Naver advanced 1.83 percent to 250,500 won, and platform giant Kakao increased 0.1 percent to 73,700 won.
No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor ended flat at 189,000 won on profit-taking, after the company reported the highest quarterly operating profit of 2.97 trillion won since 2012 in the April-June period.
But bio stocks fell, with Samsung Biologics going down 0.73 percent to 817,000 won and pharmaceutical company Celltrion falling 0.82 percent to 182,500 won.
The local currency ended at 1,307.7 won against the US dollar, up 5.2 won from the previous day's close. (Yonhap)
