South Korean shares jump to six-week high on chip boost

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose on Tuesday to their highest level in six weeks, led by heavyweight chipmakers tracking a global rally over the holiday weekend.

The benchmark KOSPI closed up 29.32 points, or 1.12%, at 2,649.64, its highest since Jan. 2.

Chipmaker SK Hynix gained 5.04%, marking its biggest jump since Nov. 6, 2023. Bigger rival Samsung Electronics rose 1.48%.

“Foreigners scooped up semiconductor stocks amid a boom in artificial intelligence,” said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

The Nasdaq slipped on Monday, after briefly surpassing its record closing high from November 2021, while the S&P 500 closed slightly lower but remained just above the 5,000-point level it crossed on Friday.

South Korea’s exports for the first 10 days of February fell 14.6% from a year earlier, according to data on Tuesday, due to a calendar difference.

South Korean shares end week sharply higher on decade-high foreign buying

Of the total 936 traded issues, 599 shares advanced, while 287 declined.

Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 944.9 billion won ($711.40 million) for the day on the main board, extending their buying streak to an eighth straight session.

The won ended onshore trade at 1,328.1 per dollar, marginally higher than its previous close at 1,328.2.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.16 point to 104.62.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.8 basis points (bps) to 3.353%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 5.4 bps to 3.454%.