Seoul shares post fresh high

Seoul shares rose on Thursday, lifted by rallies in technology issues and crude oil refiners, but shares in Hana Financial Group fell after news Goldman Sachs sold a stake in the group. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished up 1.32 percent at 2,198.54 points, a fresh record closing high. The KOSPI 200 June futures rose 1.55 points to 292.55 and the KOSPI 200 spot index advanced 3.97 points to 291.16. The junior Kosdaq market ended down 0.5 percent at 529.58.
Foreign investors were buyers of a net 885.5 billion Korean won ($820.9 mln) worth of stocks, their biggest daily purchase since July 2010. "Sentiment around the technology sector is definitely growing more positive, thanks to strong US results," said Won Jong-hyuck, a market analyst at SK Securities.
"However the market seems a bit overheated at this point," Won said, adding that there were risks of a correction and further gains could be difficult. The KOSPI's 20-day relative strength index read 74.6, well above the overbought territory mark of 70. Shares in refiners rallied on a robust earnings outlook and strength in the won, which renders the cost of importing crude oil less costly.
"Following surprisingly good results from chemical firms, investors' prospects on refiners are growing ever more bullish," said Lee Hee-cheol, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities. Shares in S-Oil jumped 10 percent and SK Innovation spiked 7.6 percent. Hana Financial Group fell 2.8 percent after news Goldman Sachs sold a 3.1 percent stake in the group.
"Shares are down because there are some overhang concerns, as Goldman is selling the Hana shares at a 6.5 percent discount. Shares are reflecting that discount," said Shim Kyu-sun, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities. Shim also said there was speculation Goldman Sachs may further sell down its remaining stake in Hana. Goldman bought an around 9 percent stake in Hana in 2005.
Memory chip makers were lifted by strong recent earnings from US technology giants like Apple and Intel. Shares in Hynix Semiconductor, the world's No 2 memory chip maker, jumped 7.9 percent, buoyed further by a 4.3 percent spike in the US Philadelphia semiconductor index. Samsung Electronics, the world's No 1 memory chip maker, climbed 1.3 percent.
Shares in OCI ended up 11.9 percent after the company announced strong first quarter results late on Wednesday. OCI said first quarter net profit jumped 176.5 percent to 327.5 billion won ($303.6 million) from a year ago. Hanjin Shipping shed 1.6 percent after the company said one of its vessels had been attacked by pirates near the Gulf of Aden while heading to Singapore.