Seoul shares ended up nearly 0.4 percent on Tuesday, helped by a bounce in crude refiners and shipyards, but the index was weighed down by investor worries about government debt burdens in Europe. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 0.36 percent at 2,088.32 points. The KOSPI 200 March futures index rose 0.65 points to 276.00 points.
The KOSPI 200 spot index gained 1.11 points to 275.10. The junior Kosdaq index fell 0.06 percent to 533.67. "The market is not moving much as investors want to take it slow since there are uncertainties in the market. An interest rate decision is scheduled this week, while eyes are on Portugal," said Lee Kyoung-soo, a market analyst at Taurus Investment & Securities.
The European Central Bank threw Portugal a temporary lifeline on Monday by buying up its bonds, as market and peer pressure mounted for Lisbon to seek an international bailout soon. The Bank of Korea is set to review interest rates on Thursday. Foreign investors were sellers of a net 108 billion won ($95.95 million) worth of stocks, offloading shares for a third consecutive session.
"Positive expectations about fourth quarter earnings are still alive," said Lawrence Kim, a market analyst at Woori Investment & Securities, adding that chemical firms were buoyed by hopes about their earnings prospects. Shares in LG Chem rose 2.1 percent and SK Chemicals gained 1.2 percent. Shares in Samsung Engineering rose 3.6 percent after the company said it had won an order worth $410 million to build a chlorine production plant.
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