Seoul shares finished higher on Thursday after substantial falls in the previous session, helped by renewed foreign investor buying after a 10-session selling streak, with firm gains in automakers and refiners lending further support. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended up 2.75 percent at 2,091.91 points. KOSPI 200 June futures rose 6.95 points to 275.35 points and the KOSPI 200 spot index climbed 7.71 points to 276.33. The junior Kosdaq market ended up 1.85 percent at 479.96.
Some brokerage houses however were more optimistic. Citigroup in a report dated May 25 revised up its end-year KOSPI target to 2,350 points, citing upward corporate earnings momentum for 2011 and attractive valuations. South Korea stocks' price to book value ratio was at 1.5, compared with Asia ex-Japan's 2.1, Starmine data showed.
Foreign investors turned net buyers after 10 sessions of selling, their longest selling streak in more than 2 years, purchasing a net 287.3 billion won ($260.8 million) worth of stocks. Crude refiners advanced despite news of penalties, after crude oil prices rose 2 percent to two-week highs in US trade overnight. Shares in STX Pan Ocean rose 1.5 percent and Hyundai Merchant Marine went up 2.6 percent.