Shares rise as traders bet on Trump victory

Seoul shares closed slightly higher as the market digested Trump's potential victory. The dollar gained against the local currency.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,866.09 points on Tuesday, up 0.18 percent, or 5.17 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Seoul shares closed slightly higher Tuesday as traders digested the effect of Donald Trump's possible victory in the U.S. presidential election on the market. The local currency fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi rose 5.17 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 2,866.09.

Trade volume was slightly heavy at 667.5 million shares worth 12.4 trillion won ($8.95 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 498 to 356.

Foreign investors and institutions purchased local shares worth 181.4 billion won and 106.2 billion won, respectively, offsetting retail investors' sell-off of 282.9 billion won.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.53 percent to hit a fresh high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite rose 0.28 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, following the assassination attempt on the former president.

The incident over the weekend bolstered expectations of a Trump victory in November, raising hopes for corporate tax cuts and looser regulations.

Analysts said the Korean stock market is digesting the elevated possibility of a Trump victory.

In Seoul, big-cap tech and auto shares led the increase.

Samsung Electronics rose 1.15 percent to 87,700 won, and SK hynix jumped 1.3 percent to 233,000 won.

Hyundai Motor soared 2.23 percent to 274,500 won, and Kia advanced 2.42 percent to 122,900 won.

Shinhan Financial Group leapt 1.54 percent to 52,600 won while Samsung C&T jumped 2.91 percent to 152,200 won.

But battery shares fell big on negative prospects for the electric vehicle industry.

LG Energy Solution plunged 3.35 percent to 346,500 won, Samsung SDI slid 4.64 percent to 360,000 won and Posco Future M sank 4.84 percent to 255,500 won.

LG Chem also shot down 4.87 percent to 341,500 won, and Posco Holdings plummeted 3.37 percent to 373,000 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,384.90 won against the greenback as of 3:30 p.m., up 2.1 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 4.8 basis points to 3.035 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year benchmark bonds rose 5.0 basis points to 4.233 percent.

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