Stocks close nearly 1 percent higher, tracking U.S. gains

Stocks closed higher Monday tracking Friday's Wall Street gains and the U.S. Federal Reserve chief's moderate remarks on the future of rate hikes. The won rose against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,543.41 points on Monday, up 0.96 percent, or 24.27 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks closed higher Monday tracking Friday's Wall Street gains and the U.S. Federal Reserve chief's moderate remarks on the future of rate hikes. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi rose 24.27 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 2,543.41.

Trading volume was moderate at 475.47 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won ($6.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 725 to 154. Institutions bought a net 298.78 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners and individuals' combined stock selling valued at 295 billion won.

On Friday, U.S. stocks ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.7 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbing 0.9 percent.

In his speech last week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted rates would remain unchanged in September, though bringing inflation back to its target still has a long way to go.

"Powell's speech was basically hawkish, but the Fed's cautious stance relieved investors," Shinhan Securities analyst Choi Yoo-joon said.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks drove the Kospi up.

LG Energy Solution rose 1.3 percent to 553,000 won and Samsung SDI climbed 0.7 percent to 599,000 won.

Posco Holdings soared 2.8 percent to 593,000 won, Posco Future M gained 2.1 percent to 472,000 won and Posco International spiked 10.9 percent to 87,600 won.

Naver jumped 1.2 percent to 213,500 won and SK Innovation grew 2.5 percent to 177,300 won.

Chipmakers fell, with Samsung Electronics losing 0.5 percent to 66,800 won and SK hynix declining 0.5 percent to 115,900 won.

Carmakers and bio firms mixed, with Hyundai Motor losing 0.4 percent to 185,400 won while Kia advanced 0.3 percent to 78,300 won.

Samsung Biologics sank 0.9 percent to 750,000 won but Celltrion rose 0.6 percent to 144,400 won.

The local currency closed at 1,323.40 won against the dollar, down 1.8 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds shed 2.9 basis points to 3.8 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dropped 0.7 basis points to 4.2 percent.

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