Seoul: Shares up on upbeat trade data, fading volatility woes

[SEOUL] South Korean shares posted their biggest daily gain in about three weeks on Monday, as upbeat January exports data lifted sentiment, while volatility concerns around US retail investors receded.

The benchmark Kospi rose 80.32 points, or 2.70 per cent, to 3,056.53, marking the biggest daily gain since Jan 8.

January exports jumped 11.4 per cent to US$48.01 billion, government data showed, beating the 9.8 per cent forecast in a Reuters survey.

Shares are rebounding from last week's dip as positive trade data is reassuring investors that the recovery momentum is positive, says Lee Jae-sun, an analyst at Hana Investment & Securities.

An army of retail investors that routed Wall Street's professionals in recent days was dealt a blow last week, after online brokerages restricted purchases of red-hot GameStop and other stocks.

A swarm of online traders in South Korea is taking a leaf from the Reddit horde in the United States to quash a government plan to lift a pandemic-imposed ban on short-selling, triggering a rally in the most shorted-stocks such as Celltrion on Monday.

Shares of Celltrion closed up 14.51 per cent, Samsung Electronics gained 1.2 per cent.

Foreigners were net buyers of US$117.67 million worth of shares on the main board.

The Kospi has risen 6.37 per cent so far this year, and gained 8.0 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

REUTERS