South Korean stocks end higher as battery shares shine on Tesla rally

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose on Monday, as local battery suppliers of Tesla gained after the electric vehicle market leader’s rally last week. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark KOSPI closed up 29.16 points, or 1.13%, at 2,612.43.

Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 3.94% and peer SK Hynix lost 2.49%, while Tesla battery suppliers LG Energy Solution and LG Chem rose 2.33% and 5.12%, respectively, at onshore close.

LG Energy Solution posted a 39% drop in quarterly profit, but shares rose as the result beat analysts’ estimates.

Hyundai Motor added 0.44% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 3.02%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 1.55% and up 2.60%, respectively.

Tesla closed nearly 22% higher on Thursday, its biggest single-day gain in over a decade, as CEO Elon Musk’s bold forecast of surging sales reassured investors that he was still looking to grow the core EV business.

South Korean shares rise as chipmaker SK Hynix extends gains; set for weekly loss

Korea Zinc secured 9.85% of its shares in a buyback it launched to block shareholders from selling stakes to its top investor Young Poong and private equity firm MBK.

Of the total 937 traded issues, 617 shares advanced, while 274 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 130.8 billion won ($94.44 million).

The won was quoted at 1,385.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.30% higher than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,384.5 per dollar, up 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,382.2.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.7 basis points to 2.925%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 6.3 basis points to 3.113%.