Seoul shares up

Seoul shares rose 0.9 percent on Friday buoyed by firm gains in financials and auto issues including Hana Financial Group and Hyundai Motor, but losses in crude oil refiners such as SK Energy weighed. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended up 0.89 percent at 2,108.17 points. The KOSPI 200 March futures index rose 2.65 points to 278.0 points.
The KOSPI 200 spot index gained 2.65 points to 278.17. The junior Kosdaq index gained 0.17 percent to 535.20. Shares in Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea's top automaker, rose 4.43 percent to 200,500 won, after hitting an intraday record high of 203,000 won, following its launch of new Grandeur sedan in the domestic market.
Hyundai said it aimed to sell 100,000 redesigned Grandeur sedans globally this year. Shares in Kia Motors rose 1.2 percent. Crude refiners lost ground after media reports quoted South Korean President Lee Myung-bak as saying investigation into domestic oil product prices were necessary due to their high prices and impact on domestic consumer prices.
Shares in SK Energy fell 3.08 percent and S-Oil lost 2.99 percent. GS Holdings, the holding company of GS Caltex, South Korea's No 2 crude oil refiner, shed 2.11 percent. Shares in Shinhan Financial Group rose 2.3 percent and Hana Financial Group 4.7 percent.
Insurers also advanced as they have substantial holdings in interest bearing assets. Samsung Life rose 3.3 percent and Korea Life climbed 0.6 percent. Shares in Korea Express spiked 14.5 percent after POSCO said it was considering purchasing a stake in the logistics firm. Hana Tour, an on-and-offline tour agency, rallied 7.2 percent and Modetour gained 6.3 percent.