Seoul: Stocks end higher as foreign-buying outweighs global growth worries

[SEOUL] South Korean shares closed higher on Wednesday, as foreign-buying overshadowed concerns around global economic growth, with investors refraining from making big bets ahead of a holiday next week.

The won ended unchanged, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark Kospi closed up 4.57 points or 0.15 per cent at 3,153.40, extending gains to a fourth straight session.

Investors looked past news that North Korea fired a pair of ballistic missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, ratcheting up regional tensions.

Among heavyweights, chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.52 per cent, while platform companies Naver and Kakao fell 0.50 per cent and 1.21 per cent, respectively.

Foreigners were net buyers of 294.5 billion won (S$337.9 million) worth of shares on the main board.

US consumer prices increased at their slowest pace in six months in August, suggesting that inflation had probably peaked, while China's factory output and retail sales growth slowed significantly, reinforcing worries about slowing growth globally.

Meanwhile, South Korea's August unemployment rate fell to the lowest on record, suggesting the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was on track.

The country's financial markets will be closed on Monday to Wednesday due to the three-day Chuseok holiday, also known as the Korean Thanksgiving holiday.

The won ended at 1,170.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,169.7 per dollar, up 0.2 per cent, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,170.6.

In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.11 point to 110.21.

The most-liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 3.8 basis points to 1.496 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 2.9 basis points to 2.029 per cent.

REUTERS