Seoul shares rose on Tuesday in a light post-holiday trading but caution prevailed, as investors waited for major markets to open to gauge impacts from China's tightening move and efforts to support debt-ladden Greece. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished 0.46 percent higher at 1,601.05 points.
Reversing mild losses at the open helped by foreign buying that boosted some blue chips such as POSCO. Daewoo Engineering & Construction jumped 6.1 percent after a newspaper report a US consortium was seeking to buy the South Korean builder for $3 billion. "With many key markets on holiday, there was little incentive to trade," said Choi Chang-ho, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp.
"Perhaps the US market's performance tonight will give some idea of the full reaction to big issues such as China's credit tightening." Hyundai Motor Group shares rose amid expectations Hyundai and Kia could increase global market share on Toyota's recall struggles.
Hyundai's US executives told Reuters the company aimed at higher US market share on new product launches and aggressive marketing. Hyundai Motor ended up 0.86 percent while Kia Motors climbed 3.33 percent. The group's automobile carrier Glovis also gained 5.03 percent. KB Financial Group fell 1.96 percent and KT Corp dropped 2.84 percent.
Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) turned lower after a recent rally on expectations for higher power tariffs, falling 1 percent. Foreign investors bought a net 59 billion won ($51.5 million) worth of stocks on the main board and local institutions bought a net 48 billion won. Retail investors offloaded a net 156 billion won.
Advancers outnumbered decliners 461 to 303 with 110 issues ending flat. A total of 271 million shares worth 2.7 trillion won changed hands, compared with the previous session's 286 million shares worth 4.2 trillion won. The KOSPI 200 March futures index rose 2.15 points to 209.65 while the KOSPI 200 spot index gained 0.99 points to 209.73. The junior Kosdaq market rose 1.01 percent to close at 508.95.
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