Stocks finish higher on strong battery and steel

Stocks closed higher Monday on sharp battery and steel gains. The won rose against the dollar. The Kospi added 18.77 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 2,628.53, a second consecutive rise.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,628.53 points on Monday, up 0.72 percent, or 18.77 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Stocks closed higher Monday on sharp battery and steel gains. The won rose against the dollar.

The Kospi added 18.77 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 2,628.53, a second consecutive rise. Trading volume was slightly heavy at 522.67 million shares worth 18.81 trillion won ($14.69 billion), with losers far outpacing gainers 790 to 118.

The index opened lower on big-cap losses in the run-up to the release of quarterly corporate results, but retail buying erased earlier losses and led the upturn.

Individual investors picked up a net 461.09 billion won worth of shares, while foreign and institutional investors shed a net 169.17 billion won and 294.85 billion won worth of shares, respectively.

"Volatility will continue as investors are waiting for interest rate-setting meetings by the United States and major nations this week and earnings reports by big firms," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to hold a two-day rate-setting meeting starting Tuesday, where the U.S. central bank is largely expected to raise the key rate by 0.25 percentage points.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics added 0.14 percent to 70,400 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 4.92 percent to 597,000 won.

LG Chem climbed 2.74 percent to 713,000 won.

Posco Holdings surged 16.52 percent as its second-quarter operating profit jumped 88.1 percent.

Posco Future M also soared 10.5 percent to 542,000 won after reporting positive results in its battery unit.

Samsung SDI grew 3.79 percent to 712,000 won, and SK Innovation went up 11.21 percent to 196,500 won.

But carmakers lost ground, with Hyundai Motor falling 0.4 percent to 199,200 won, and Kia losing 1.18 percent to 83,500 won.

Naver went down 1.46 percent to 203,000 won and Kakao sank 1.48 percent to 49,850 won.

The local currency ended at 1,279.9 won against the dollar, down 3.5 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds advanced 1.3 basis points to 3.615 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds retreated 1.3 basis points to 3.839 percent.

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