Stocks stay largely flat led by battery stock gains

Stocks ended nearly flat Wednesday as strong battery stocks pared afternoon losses. The won fell against the dollar. The Kospi rose 0.62 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,608.24, while the Kosdaq reached a 52-week high.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,608.24 points on Wednesday, down 0.02 percent, or 0.62 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended nearly flat Wednesday as strong battery stocks pared afternoon losses. The won fell against the dollar.

The Kospi rose 0.62 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,608.24. Trading volume was moderate at 433.9 million shares worth 11 trillion won ($9.5 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 599 to 272.

The Kosdaq reached a 52-week high to finish at 923.72, up 1.1 percent from the previous session.

Institutions and foreigners offloaded a combined 395 billion won worth of stocks, exceeding individuals' stock purchases of 368.3 billion won.

Overnight, U.S. stocks advanced, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.1 percent to 34,951.93 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gaining 0.8 percent to 14,353.64.

Investors are keeping an eye on the U.S. central bank, which is widely expected to raise rates further this year in line with its inflation target of 2 percent.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks ended mixed.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.4 percent to 71,700 won, and SK hynix declined 0.3 percent to 117,500 won.

Naver lost 2.2 percent to 204,500 won, and Kakao shed 2.7 percent to 50,400 won.

Samsung SDI sank 0.6 percent to 695,000 won, while LG Chem gained 1.2 percent to 687,000 won. LG Energy Solution grew 2 percent to 560,000 won.

Posco Holdings rose 2.4 percent to 499,500 won, and Posco Future M jumped 4.8 percent to 480,000 won.

Samsung Biologics climbed 1.2 percent to 741,000 won, and Hyundai Mobis grew 2.1 percent to 244,000 won.

Kosdaq's top cap EcoPro BM spiked 10.7 percent to 361,000 won. The battery manufacturer logged another double-digit increase to become the 10th largest stock in the Korea, surpassing Kia and Naver.

The local currency ended at 1,265.60 won against the dollar, up 5.2 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds retreated 5.2 basis points to 3.542 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dropped 2.2 basis points to 3.788 percent.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]