Seoul: Shares pare early gains; won up as soft US jobs put rate hike on hold

[SEOUL] Seoul shares pared some early gains as foreigners turned net sellers during the session but still managed to close slightly higher on Monday, with refinery and chemical shares bolstering the main board.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 0.4 per cent at 1,978.25 points. In morning trade it rose as much as 1.3 per cent to 1,994.65, the highest intraday level in two weeks.

Foreigners turned net sellers, offloading around 10.8 billion won (S$13.2 million) worth of shares.

Refinery SK Innovation Co Ltd closed up 5.9 per cent and S-Oil Corp gained 5.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the South Korean won closed local trade up 0.7 per cent at 1,172.4 per dollar, reflecting broad falls in the greenback as a weak US jobs report prompted investors to push back their expectations for a US interest rates hike.

REUTERS