Seoul: Shares close higher on Samsung Electronics rally, robust foreign buying

[SEOUL] South Korean shares rose nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday, driven by market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, robust foreign investor buying and expectations of another US stimulus package.

The benchmark Kospi ended 39.13 points, or 1.76 per cent, higher at 2,256.99.

Foreigners bought net US$1.09 billion worth of shares on the main board, the biggest since September 2013.

Samsung Electronics rallied as much as 5.8 per cent, joining bigger rival TSMC, driven by growing expectations that the chipmakers may benefit from Intel Corp's plan to outsource more manufacturing.

Senate Republicans on Monday proposed a US$1 trillion coronavirus aid package hammered out with the White House, paving the way for talks with Democrats on how to help Americans as expanded unemployment benefits for millions of workers expire this week.

The trading volume in the Kospi index was 851.33 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 900, the number of advancing shares was 339.

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REUTERS