Stocks rise for second day, propelled by great expectations

Stocks advanced for a second consecutive day Tuesday, backed by expectations for strong corporate earnings.

A screen at Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 3,049.08 points on Tuesday, up 28.54 points, or 0.94 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks advanced for a second consecutive day Tuesday, backed by expectations for strong corporate earnings. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi advanced 28.54 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 3,049.08 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 547 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($7.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 574 to 271.

Foreigners bought a net 107 billion won, while retail investors sold 441 billion won. Institutions purchased a net 325 billion won.

Stocks started strong, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from expectations of good corporate earnings.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.9 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18 percent.

"Tesla is widely seen as a market bellwether in growth stocks, and its strong performance last night seems to have boosted investor sentiment [for a solid earnings report season]," said Yuanta Securities analyst Cho Byung-hyun.

Bio, bank and tech advances led the market advance.

Samsung Electronics added 1.28 percent to 71,100 won, and chipmaker SK hynix gained 2 percent to 102,000 won on robust third-quarter earnings.

Internet portal operator Naver rose 2.48 percent to 412,500 won, and Kakao increased 1.19 percent to 127,500 won. Kakao Bank jumped 3.34 percent to 61,900 won.

LG Chem increased 1.1 percent to 830,000 won, and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI gained 1.77 percent to 746,000 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics climbed 0.23 percent to 879,000 won, and Celltrion rose 2.77 percent to 222,500 won.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.18 percent to 213,500 won, and its sister company Kia edged up 0.59 percent to 84,800 won.

Game publisher NCSoft increased 0.8 percent to 627,000 won, and Netmarble added 1.18 percent to 128,500 won.

The Kosdaq gained 17.45 points, or 1.75 percent, and closed at 1,011.76.

The local currency closed at 1,167.6 won against the dollar, down 0.8 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 2.8 basis points to 1.947 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond lost 0.1 basis point to 1.63 percent.

BY LEE TAE-HEE, YONHAP [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]