Seoul shares shook off intraday losses and closed higher on Monday, as comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and weak Chinese manufacturing data lifted hopes about stimulus measures from the world's top two economies. Speaking at a central bankers' meeting over the weekend, Bernanke stopped short of signalling a clear, imminent move to bolster growth, but he kept the door open to further fiscal easing, which stoked the appetite for risk assets.
In China, August data showed manufacturing had fallen to its lowest level since March 2009, further boosting hopes for additional fiscal stimulus. "The situation right now in China, including its economic indicators and capital flows, actively calls for further rate cuts and policy easing," said Cho Yong-hyun, a strategist at Hana Daetoo Securities in Seoul.
Cho expected South Korean stocks to remain largely unchanged this week ahead of several scheduled economic events, including a meeting of European Union financial ministers, which are likely to provide investors with trading cues. The domestic stock market got off to a weak start on Monday after Samsung Electronics fell on a request by Apple Inc's to a US district court to add more Samsung products to its patents lawsuit. Samsung, which fell by over 2 percent during the session, recouped some losses to close down 1.2 percent.
Insurers extended their rally from last week, underpinned by the Financial Services Commission's announcement that spelled out measures for general insurers to offer low-cost medical indemnity policies. Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance rallied 3.8 percent while LIG Insurance rose 2.2 percent.
LG UPlus and Samsung Card both gained after announcing on Friday they would be retiring 78.2 million and 71 million of their own shares, respectively. Samsung Card ended at its highest level since late March. NCSoft Corp also gained, boosted by news of successful sales of its Guild Wars 2 game which was released five days ago. Foreigners were net buyers of 66.2 billion won ($58.35 million) worth of South Korean stocks on Monday, snapping a four-day selling streak. Gainers outnumbers losers 468 to 344, while the KOSPI 200 benchmark of core stocks edged up 0.3 percent and the junior, small-cap heavy KOSDAQ rose 0.81 percent.