South Korea stocks end higher on strong foreign buying, chip boost

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares ended sharply higher for a second session on Thursday, thanks to strong buying by foreign investors and gains in chip heavyweights on expectations that semiconductor shortage issues are bottoming out.

Both the won and the benchmark bond yield rose.

The KOSPI closed up 45.55 points, or 1.57%, at 2,945.27, following a 2.14% gain on Wednesday.

Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix jumped 1.88% and 3%, respectively. Other heavyweights LG Chem and Naver added 1.25% and 2.18% each.

South Korea's daily coronavirus case numbers rose to a new high on Thursday, as authorities halted quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated inbound travellers for two weeks in a bid to fend off the Omicron variant.

On the main board, foreigners were net buyers of 886.0 billion won ($753.91 million) worth of shares.

"KOSPI gained on strong foreign buying and a boost in chip heavyweights, although Omicron variant cases are worrisome ... Foreign inflow was focused in semiconductor sector including Samsung Electronics," Mirae Asset Securities' analyst Kim Seok-hwan said.

The won ended at 1,175.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.28% higher than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,175.6 per dollar, up 0.1% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,175.7.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.02 points to 109.07.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.3 basis points to 1.835%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.4 basis points to 2.195%.