South Korea: Stocks end higher on further monetary policy easing hopes

[SEOUL] South Korean shares rose on Thursday, amid a rally in domestic chipmakers, as investors hoped for further policy easing by global central banks after the US Federal Reserve's rate-cut decision. 

The Fed cut interest rates again overnight to help sustain a record-long economic expansion, but signalled a higher bar to further reductions in borrowing costs. "If the economy does turn down, then a more extensive sequence of rate cuts could be appropriate," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

The KOSPI ended up 9.62 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 2,080.35, extending its gains into a tenth straight session.

The KOSPI has risen 1.93 per cent so far this year, and gained 3.6 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

Trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 483.57 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 893, the number of advancing shares was 340.

REUTERS