Seoul shares rebounded on Tuesday, led by large caps and brokerages, but the ongoing US stand-off over raising the debt ceiling pushed foreign investors to continue selling. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished up 0.85 percent at 2,168.70 points. KOSPI 200 September futures rose 1.7 points to 283.10 and the KOSPI 200 spot index climbed 2.38 points to 282.04. The junior Kosdaq market finished up 1.12 percent at 535.85.
Foreign investors extended selling to a second session, offloading 53.9 billion won ($51 million) worth of shares. Samsung Securities advanced 5.28 percent and Woori Investment & Securities climbed 4.66 percent. Large-cap stocks gained ground, with Samsung Electronics up 0.35 percent, Hyundai Motor firming 1.71 percent and POSCO rising 0.84 percent.
Builders slumped, led by Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which dropped 7.33 percent on a block deal. Kumho Industrial sold 9.67 million shares in Daewoo at 12,700 won each, a 7 percent discount to Daewoo's closing price on Monday. Shares in Kumho Industrial jumped 6.8 percent. Banks rebounded, with Shinhan Financial rising 2.52 percent and Hana Financial up 1.48 percent. Shares in LG Electronics fell 0.97 percent ahead of its earnings release on Wednesday.
Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) rose only 0.38 percent after South Korea said on Tuesday it would raise electricity tariffs by an average of 4.9 percent from next month, an amount seen as unlikely to effect a turnaround at the lossmaking utility.