Seoul shares erased early losses and closed higher for a second day on Wednesday, as investors snapped up domestic-focused titles such as SK Telecom and CJ Corp amid an uncertain global economic outlook. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed up 0.68 percent at 1,892.67 points after opening weaker on disappointment at the failure of French and German leaders to raise the size of a eurozone rescue fund.
The index lost nearly 500 points during the global financial market rout that began in early August, but has staged a strong rebound this week, recouping almost half the losses. The KOSPI 200 September futures rose 0.17 percent to 242.00 points and the KOSPI 200 spot index gained 0.5 percent to 243.43. The junior Kosdaq market finished up 2.06 percent at 506.44. A meeting between the heads of France and Germany detailed plans for closer euro zone integration, but they did not include boosting the size of the bloc's rescue fund or sales of euro bonds.
Shares in CJ Corp jumped 9.9 percent, Hansol Paper rose 13.4 percent, Samsung Publish added 12 percent and furniture firm Fursys soared 12.8 percent. Telecom stocks also firmed up, with KT Corp rising 3.1 percent and SK Telecom gaining 5 percent. SK was spurred by market talk that it may release next-generation LTE smartphones in the coming months ahead of rival LG Uplus , and also drop a bid to buy a controlling stake in chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor Inc SK Telecom declined to comment. Major technology issues came under pressure after steep gains in the prior session. LG Display dropped 2.1 percent and Hynix shed 4.4 percent.
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