Seoul: Shares edge up, helped by automakers; won falls

[SEOUL] Seoul shares edged up by midday on Tuesday, helped by gains in automakers, while institutional and foreign selling in local equities weighed on the main board.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.3 per cent at 1,970.16 points as of 0208 GMT. Gainers outnumbered losers by 13 to 10.

Market bellwether Hyundai Motor Co Ltd rose 3.8 per cent, and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp gained 3.5 per cent. Logistics affiliate Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd was up 4.4 per cent. Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd, an automotive parts affiliate, rose 3.1 per cent.

Rhoo Yong-seok, an analyst at Hyundai Securities, said market participants had seen a automakers' share performances improve in the third quarter as expectations of improved earnings from the relatively weak won.

Mr Rhoo noted carmakers had benefited from Volkswagen shares plunging by nearly 20 per cent overnight after the German carmaker admitted it had rigged emissions tests of diesel-powered vehicles in the US.

Shares in LG Display Co Ltd fell as much as 4.9 per cent to a near three-week low of 23,150 won.

Foreigners and domestic institutions offloaded 22.7 billion won (S$27.3 million) and 23.7 billion won worth of shares in the main board, respectively.

On the currency market, the South Korean won fell against the dollar, mirroring a bullish greenback that recovered from disappointment over the Fed's decision to hold rates steady last week.

The South Korean won was down 0.1 per cent at 1,176.0 per dollar.

Yuna Park, a foreign-exchange analyst at Dongbu Securities, said the won's losses could be limited on local exporters'demand for settlements at around the 1,180 level.

December futures on three-year treasury bonds were down 0.04 points at 109.70.

REUTERS