Soaring Samsung earnings push Kospi to two-year high

Shares rose on Samsung's earnings surprise and hope for softer U.S. job data. The Kospi reached its highest closing price since January 2022.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,862.23 points on Thursday, up 1.32 percent, or 37.29 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares ended higher for a third consecutive day Friday as investors cheered an earnings surprise from Samsung Electronics amid hopes for softening U.S. job data this week. The won rose in value against the dollar.

The Kospi rose 37.29 points, or 1.32 percent, to 2,862.23, marking the highest closing price since Jan. 18, 2022 when it finished at 2,902.79. The Kosdaq gained 6.68 points, or 0.79 percent, to close at 847.49.

Trade volume was moderate at 372.36 million shares worth 12.9 trillion won ($9.3 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 461 to 397.

Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 2.56 trillion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock sales valued at 2.5 trillion won.

The U.S. jobs report for June due Friday (U.S. time) is forecast to show a slight slowdown or stability, raising hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

Samsung Electronics also lent support to the market advance. The company expects to report a 15-fold on-year increase to its second-quarter operating income, aided by the AI boom and recovery in chip prices.

Samsung Electronics rose 3 percent to reach an over two-year high of 87,100 won, SK hynix climbed 2.6 percent to 236,000 won, Hyundai Motor gained 1.3 percent to 281,000 won and Hanwha Corporation, the holding company of Hanwha Group, jumped 4.3 percent to 29,050 won.

Among decliners, LG Energy Solution fell 0.4 percent to 357,500 won, SK Innovation declined 1.8 percent to 112,500 won and refiner S-Oil slid 1 percent to 67,400 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,380.3 won against the dollar as of 3:30 p.m., down 0.1 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed flat. The yield on three-year government bonds stayed flat at 3.127 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bond remained unchanged, as U.S. markets were closed for the country's Independence Day.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]