Seoul: Stocks end higher on chip gains, investors look past Omicron

[SEOUL] South Korean shares ended higher on Wednesday (Dec 22), as chip heavyweights tracked overnight gains in their US peers and investors sought riskier assets despite surging Omicron cases around the world. Both the Korean won and the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi closed 9.45 points higher, or 0.32 per cent, at 2,984.48, after Tuesday's (Dec 21) 0.41 per cent gain.

Chip giants extended gains, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix adding 1.66 per cent and 2.01 per cent, respectively, on optimistic sectorwide outlook. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index had gained 3.35 per cent.

On the main board, foreigners purchased net 303.7 billion won (S$348 million) worth of shares.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced more federal vaccination and testing sites to tackle a surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant, but reassured that those who are inoculated can gather for the holidays.

The won ended at 1,192.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.08 per cent higher than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,192.7 per dollar, down 0.2 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,193.5.

In money and debt markets, March futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.07 point to 109.17.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.0 basis points to 1.759 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 5.3 basis points to 2.148 per cent.

REUTERS