Seoul shares managed to erase an earlier 2.55 percent decline to end higher on Tuesday as exporters rebounded, helped by lingering weakness in the won, but financials fell on continued global bank worries. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 0.66 percent at 1,025.57 points after sliding to a session low of 992.69 points, the lowest intraday level since late November.
"Gains were led by major exporting issues, which are rising as the won remains pretty weak. Also, the view that the currency is probably near its bottom has prompted some buying," said Ham Sung-sik, a market analyst at Daishin Securities. Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun on Tuesday warned against one-way bets on the won, which helped the currency to recover slightly against the dollar.
"Programme buying occurred on views that shares at around 1,000 are cheap. While in the short-term that may be the case, I would not jump to the conclusion that the index is firm at that level. There are serious unresolved issues - such as the mounting fears about eastern European banks the US financial sector, and volatile foreign exchange markets - to consider," said Yun Lee, a market analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.
Samsung Electronics, the world's No 1 memory chip maker, rose 2.92 percent and LG Electronics, the world's No 4 handset maker, advanced 3.91 percent. Automakers outperformed after they released February sales data late on Monday and were boosted further by views the weaker won would make their products more competitive.
Hyundai Motor rose 4.36 percent after it reported sales in February fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier, but were up about 13 percent from January. Kia Motors climbed 2.5 percent after posting a 3.9 percent fall in February sales from a year earlier, but a 27 percent rise from a month ago.
But financials sank on continued concerns about the US financial sector after AIG posted a record quarterly loss, with Shinhan Financial Group losing 2.27 percent and Hana Financial Group shedding 2.29 percent. Shares in shipbuilders gained after local media reports on Monday that Dongguk Steel had decided to cut steel ship plate prices.
Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world largest shipbuilder, rose 3.6 percent, and Samsung Heavy climbed 2.94 percent. Local institutions bought a net 236.1 billion won worth of shares on the main board and retail investors sold a net 78.2 billion won worth. Foreign investors sold a net 195.4 billion won.
Decliners led advancers by 547 to 260, with 72 titles ending unchanged. A total of 531.05 million shares worth 3.5 trillion won changed hands, compared with 409.3 million shares worth 3.30 trillion won traded on Monday. The KOSPI 200 March futures index rose 1.80 points to 134.40 points and the KOSPI 200 spot index went up 1.31 points to 133.78. The junior Kosdaq market declined 0.56 percent to end at 347.76 points.