SEOUL, Mar 5: Seoul shares rebounded on Tuesday morning on foreign buying as investors were encouraged by comments in the US backing continuation of the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.5 percent at 2,024.02 points as of 0233 GMT, hovering a near two-month high.
‘Although uncertainties and concerns in the US and China haven’t changed, comments supporting U.S. Monetary easing during the previous day appear to have fed positive sentiment especially in foreign investors and lifted the index,’ said Lee Jae-man, an analyst from Tong Yang Securities.
South Korean shares’ gain mirrored Asian peers, which rebounded after a sharp sell-off on Monday triggered by slumping Chinese stocks.
Comments by Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve’s vice chair, in support of US central bank’s aggressive monetary stimulus on Monday were seen having buttressed investor sentiment.
Korean blue-chips were mixed. Tech shares outperformed the market with heavyweight Samsung Electronics rising 1.3 percent near mid-session.
Steelmakers extended losses suffered on Monday after China’s efforts to curb housing costs drove concerns about weaker demand. Shares of the world’s fifth-largest steelmaker POSCO fell 0.7 percent on Tuesday.
Investors offloaded some defensives, with food processor CJ Cheiljedang down 0.8 percent while cosmetics firm Amore Pacific declined 0.9 percent.
By mid-session, foreign investors had purchased a net 90.3 billion Korean won ($82.61 million) of stocks, supporting the index.
Advancing shares outnumbered decliners 465 to 287.
The KOSPI 200 benchmark of core stocks was up 0.7 percent, while the junior KOSDAQ rose 1 percent.
($1 = 1093.1500 Korean won)
(agencies)
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