Seoul shares rose on Wednesday, lifted by foreign buying and solid gains in POSCO amid earnings optimism ahead of its quarterly results announcement, but shipping issues weighed on the index. Analysts said relatively modest falls in US markets and a bullish outlook by Intel Corp helped boost sentiment towards Seoul stocks and technology issues in particular.
"We are seeing fairly strong foreign buying in markets today, and this comes as quite encouraging. Perhaps earlier caution regarding earnings and outlooks has eased a bit," said Lee Sun-yeop, a market analyst at Shinhan Investment Corporation.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 1.24 percent at 1,649.09 points. Foreign investors were buyers of a net 353.4 billion won worth of stocks, picking up shares for a second session. POSCO rose 4.25 percent ahead of its quarterly results as the world's No 4 steelmaker is widely expected to post solid numbers for the third quarter, helped by lower raw material prices and a pickup in demand.
"POSCO's earnings will continue to improve in the fourth quarter, helped by the strength in the won," said Shin Yoon-shik, an analyst at Meritz Securities. Shares in Hyundai Steel rose 6.66 percent. LG Chem advanced 1.44 percent after the company said late on Tuesday its third quarter net profit hit 543 billion won ($465.7 million), up from the previous year's 297 billion won.
Technology issues' gains also boosted markets, with Samsung Electronics, the largest share on the main KOSPI, climbing 1.59 percent and Hynix Semiconductor rising 0.97 percent. But falls in the Baltic Dry Index weighed on shipping issues, sending Hanjin Shipping down 5.24 percent.
Shares in Honam Petrochemical rose 7.26 percent on market talk the company may buy back and cancel shares, analysts said, though a company spokesman dismissed the rumour. Institutions sold a net 68.7 billion won worth of shares and retail investors offloaded a net 255.2 billion won.
Advancers led decliners 450 to 307, with 122 counters ending unchanged. Trading volume stood at 403 million shares worth 4.9 trillion won, down from Tuesday's 408.5 million shares worth 5.3 trillion won. The KOSPI 200 December futures index rose 2.05 points to 215.70, while the KOSPI 200 spot index ended up 2.80 points at 215.90. The junior Kosdaq market rose 0.72 percent to finish at 512.04 points.
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