South Korean shares, which fell to a seven-month low the previous day, rebounded on Thursday mainly on the back of a rally by large-cap technology shares. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.74 percent to close at 1,782.47 points. Investors picked up cheap stocks as worries over the euro zone eased somewhat on comments from a European Central Bank official that there were arguments for giving Europe's permanent rescue fund a banking license.
"Nothing has been solved in Europe yet and it's only a temporary reprieve for risk perceptions, but it did emphasize the cheap valuation of beaten down South Korean stocks," said Park Ok-hee, an analyst at IBK Securities. LG Electronics shares jumped 6.6 percent in a late reaction to its Wednesday report that profit in the second quarter doubled from a year earlier.
During trading hours on Wednesday, LG published its April-June results but its shares closed 2.1 percent lower on a day that saw broad risk aversion and underlying worry about the company's loss-making handset business. On Thursday, LG Display was the other notable gainer among technology counters, gaining 4 percent prior to releasing its earnings after the market close.
For the three months ended in June, LG Display suffered its seventh straight quarterly loss, though this one - of 26 billion won ($22.59 million) - trumped analyst forecasts. Its first-quarter loss was 178 billion won. Chipmaker SK Hynix closed unchanged after its second-quarter earnings missed analyst forecasts despite reporting a small profit to snap a loss-making stretch of three straight quarterly periods.