Shares hit five-month high on foreign, institutional purchasing

Shares closed sharply higher for the third straight session to hit a near five-month high on Thursday, the last day of trading for 2023, on strong foreign and institutional purchasing. The local currency fell in value against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,655.28 points on Tuesday, up 1.60 percent, or 41.78 points, from the previous trading session.[NEWS1]

Shares closed sharply higher for the third straight session to hit a near five-month high on Thursday, the last day of trading for 2023, on strong foreign and institutional purchasing. The local currency fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi rose 41.78 points, or 1.6 percent, to close at 2,655.28, marking the highest since Aug. 1, when it finished at 2,667.07.

Trade volume was moderate at 450.6 million shares worth 9 trillion won ($7 billion), with winners far outpacing losers 681 to 207.

Foreign investors scooped up a net 619.6 billion won worth of local shares and institutions bought a net 813.6 billion won, offsetting individual selling worth a net 1.3 billion won.

"Throughout December, the local stock market was full of hopes for next year, which reflected on prices," said Choi Yoo-jun, an analyst from Shinhan Securities. "And Samsung Electronics continues its strong performance."

Most shares finished higher across the board.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.64 percent to a fresh yearly high of 78,500 won, and SK hynix added 0.78 percent to 141,500 won.

Battery shares lent support to the bullish mode, with LG Energy Solution gaining 1.54 percent to 427,500 won and Samsung SDI jumping 3.62 percent to 472,000 won.

Banking shares were also strong as Shinhan Financial Group added 2.95 percent to 40,150 won and KB Financial Group went up 3.44 percent to 54,100 won.

Shares of local builders finished in positive territory following the news that Taeyoung Engineering & Construction has applied for a debt-restructuring program.

DL Construction rose 2.65 percent to 12,780 won, and GS Engineering & Construction edged up 0.13 percent to 15,020 won, while Taeyoung E&C fell 3.74 percent to 2,315 won.

The local currency closed at 1,288 won against the dollar, down 6.2 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 6.0 points to 3.162 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds dropped 10.3 points to 3.795 percent.

The Korean financial market closes on Friday and opens on Monday to begin the first trading in the new year.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]