Stocks continue to rise with hopes of Fed's monetary easing slowdown

Shares closed higher Monday amid speculation that a second straight quarterly U.S. contraction may cause the Fed to become less aggressive in raising rates. The won fell against the dollar.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,452.25 points on Monday, up 0.75 points, or 0.03 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Shares closed higher Monday amid speculation that a second straight quarterly U.S. contraction may cause the Fed to become less aggressive in raising rates. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi rose 0.75 points, or 0.03 percent, from the previous session to close at 2,452.25 points, extending its winning streak to the sixth day.

Trading volume was moderate at 480.94 million shares worth 7.4 trillion won ($5.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 490 to 346.

Retail investors bought a net 40.8 billion won worth of stocks and foreigners a net 134.4 billion won. Institutions offloaded a net 175.2 billion won worth of stocks.

Investor sentiment was a bit buoyed as the Fed recently hinted that the U.S. central bank could slow down its pace of monetary easing, giving a boost to market sentiment.

The Fed on Thursday indicated the possible slowdown in policy tightening, following an aggressive 0.75 percentage-point hike in the benchmark interest rate.

In Seoul, airlines and shipbuilding stocks underpinned the main index.

Hanjin KAL, the parent firm of national flag carrier Korean Air Lines, rose 1.2 percent to 60,700 won, Jeju Air climbed 0.7 percent to 15,100 won, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering gained 3.8 percent to 20,600 won.

Tech and auto stocks were among the decliners.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.2 percent to 61,300 won, chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.8 percent to 97,100 won, and the state-run Korea Electric Power shed 1.3 percent to 22,050 won.

Kakao lost 1.07 percent to 74,000 won, while Naver remained flat at 259,000 won.

Bio stocks closed mixed. Samsung Biologics advanced 1.5 percent to 878,000 won, while Celltrion lost 1.32 percent to 187,500 won.

The local currency closed at 1,304.00 won against the dollar, up 4.90 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 3.99 points, or 0.50 percent, to close at 807.61points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 7.1 basis points to 3.081 percent, and the yield on the 10-year government bond lost 2.4 basis points to 2.64 percent.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, YONHAP [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]