The eye-catching move on a flat day for South Korean shares on Thursday was an 11.6 pct surge by Halla Climate Control, after majority stakeholder US auto parts supplier Visteon Corp said it will buy out the remaining shares. Visteon said it would offer some $800 million to take full control of the air conditioner maker, which generates 60 percent of its revenues from Hyundai Motor Group, though analysts warned that a key shareholder may hold out for more.
Otherwise, the market was locked in holding pattern, with investors awaiting an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank that is expected to set the tone globally by supporting risk appetite. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed 0.06 percent higher at 1,875.49 points after trading in a narrow band of roughly 1,865-1,880.
Laggard crude oil refiners and petrochemical shares outperformed on bargain-hunting as GS Holdings, the parent of South Korea's second-largest refiner, gained 1.5 percent and LG Chem rallied 3.6 percent. "Investors were seen rotating into cheap, battered stocks, reducing their heavy portfolio exposure to blue-chip technology shares whose lofty second-quarter profit expectations have been dented by global economic woes," said Lim Soo-gyun, an analyst at Samsung Securities.
For the most part, investors held back from taking fresh positions ahead of the ECB meeting, with the central bank expected to cut its main refinancing rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.75 percent, according to the majority of economists surveyed in a Reuters poll.
Trading, the thinnest so far this month with some 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) worth of shares exchanging hands on the main bourse, was further subdued in the wake of Wednesday's Independence Day holiday in the United States that deprived investors of fresh market cues.
Hi-mart shares edged up 0.9 percent, setting a four-day rally and extending sharp gains from the previous session when Lotte Shopping was selected as the preferred bidder for a controlling stake in South Korea's largest electronics retailer. Eugene Corp, Hi-mart's largest stakeholder, saw its shares rise 2.4 percent. Percent.