Seoul shares up

Seoul shares rose on Thursday, fuelled by rises in technology issues such as Samsung Electronics ahead of Intel Corp results in the United States, while POSCO slipped ahead of its quarterly results. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished up 0.86 percent at 1,685.77 points.
"Strong rebounds in large cap technology issues such as Samsung Electronics are boosting markets today. Brewing expectations before US Intel earnings results boosted foreign buying in particular," said Chung Seung-jae, a market analyst at Mirae Asset Securities. "Options expiries falling on the day also prompted some volatility in markets," Chung added.
Rises were fuelled by memory chip issues including Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor, which rose 3.76 percent and 5.82 percent respectively. Recent rises in key memory chip prices helped memory chip issues post a particularly strong rebound after their latest sharp falls, analysts said. LG Display also eked out a solid gain of 5.35 percent.
"LG Display shares suffered losses during recent sessions despite its solid earnings outlook, and investors are flocking to buy its shares cheaply today," said Yoon Hyuk-jin, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities. "Panel pricing in February is expected to be strong, helped by improving economies and steadily robust demand for LCDs from China."
But POSCO lagged, losing 0.67 percent, before its quarterly results on Thursday after the markets' close. The steelmaker is expected to report firm year-on-year earnings growth helped by cheaper raw materials prices and recovering demand.
Shipbuilders also rallied on steady rises in the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of shipping key commodities, according to Shinhan Investment Corp analyst Cho In-karp. "A continued recovery in the Baltic Dry Index pointed to a gradual pickup in the battered shipbuilding and shipping industry," Cho said.
Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 5.97 percent and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering rose 1.04 percent. In other sectors, shares in Korean Air Co jumped 6.53 percent as recent strength in the won stoked hopes of an earnings turnaround for South Korea's top air carrier.
Analysts said the stronger won should help the firm offset fuel costs, which are paid in dollars, and boost overseas travel demand. Institutions were buyers of 155.6 billion won worth of stocks, and foreign investors offloaded 243.4 billion won. Retail investors purchased a net 45.7 billion won worth of stocks.
Advancers outnumbered decliners 421 to 356 with 100 issues ending flat. Trading volume stood at 428.6 million shares worth 6.1 trillion won, compared with 356 million shares worth 5.2 trillion won on Wednesday. The KOSPI 200 March futures index rose 2.60 points to 222.30, and the KOSPI 200 spot index gained 2.02 points to 221.19. The junior Kosdaq market advanced 1.47 percent to close at 542.33.