Seoul: Stocks end near 2-month high as battery, internet stocks jump

[SEOUL] South Korean shares hovered near a 2-month high on Tuesday (Apr 5) supported by shares of battery and internet companies, although gains were capped by worries over the Ukraine crisis.

The Korean won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi closed up 1.3 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,759.20, the highest close since Feb 10.

Battery makers LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI rose 2.39 per cent and 2.56 per cent, respectively, while internet platform operators Naver and Kakao gained more than 1 per cent each.

The market sentiment is calm, with growth stocks such as battery and internet following the Wall Street's overnight tech rally, said Park Kwang-nam, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

Investors are taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of US PMI data and comments from Federal Reserve officials due later in the day, Park added.

The US and European countries pledged on Monday to punish Moscow over civilian killings in northern Ukraine, where a mass grave and tied bodies of people shot at close range were found in a town seized back from Russian forces.

South Korea's consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than a decade in March, adding pressure to the central bank ahead of its rate decision meeting next week.

The won closed trading up 0.14 per cent at 1,212.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,212.7 per dollar, up 0.1 per cent from the previous day.

In money and debt markets, June futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.18 point to 105.61 in late afternoon trade.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.2 basis points to 2.863 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.9 basis point to 3.081 per cent. REUTERS