Shares rise amid strong exports and tech gains

Shares rose by almost 2 percent Thursday despite overnight Wall Street losses, with techs and autos climbing as the nation's exports rose for the fourth month. The won rose in value against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,542.46 points on Thursday, up 1.82 percent, or 45.37 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares rose by almost 2 percent Thursday despite overnight Wall Street losses, with techs and autos climbing as the nation's exports rose for the fourth month. The won rose in value against the dollar.

The Kospi climbed 45.37 points, or 1.82 percent, to 2,542.46.

Trade volume was heavy at 741.3 million shares worth 13.3 trillion won ($9.98 billion), with winners outpacing losers 668 to 239.

Korea's exports moved up for the fourth consecutive month in January to reach $54.6 billion, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Semiconductor shipments, in particular, shot up 56.2 percent on-year, growing for three consecutive months and marking the sharpest increase since December 2017.

Overnight, the U.S. Federal Reserve held its benchmark lending rate steady for the fourth consecutive time. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said a rate cut in March is "probably not the most likely case."

The S&P 500 dropped 1.6 percent, marking its worst daily loss since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also fell 0.80 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

"The Kospi appears to have gained ground from the positive January export figures," Lee Jae-seon, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, said.

Market observers see no change in the anticipation of a future rate cut by the Fed despite Powell's comments dismissing the possibility of an interest rate cut next month, he added.

In Seoul, tech and financial shares led the overall gains, with Samsung Electronics adding 1.24 percent to close at 73,600 won and KB Financial soaring 8.30 percent to 61,300 won.

Automakers also enjoyed brisk trading, with Hyundai Motor and Kia climbing 6.89 percent and 3.30 percent to 208,000 won and 106,300 won, respectively.

The local currency closed at 1,331.80 won against the dollar, down 2.80 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 0.5 points to 3.266 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds fell 11.5 points to 3.917 percent.

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