Seoul: Shares post best day in nearly 4 years; won gains

[SEOUL] South Korean shares had their biggest daily gain in almost four years on Wednesday, rallying in line with regional peers, while the won closed higher as risk appetites recovered following sharp rises in Wall Street and Europe.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 3 per cent to 1,934.19 points, marking the biggest one-day percentage gain since Dec 21, 2011. The KOSPI had fallen the past three days.

Foreigners were initially net buyers but then changed and became sellers for a 25th consecutive session.

During the period, they sold a net 5.08 trillion won (S$6 billion) of shares in the main board, preliminary data showed.

The most sold firm for the 25 days was Samsung Electronics Co Ltd with selling worth 642.6 billion won, followed by SK Hynix Inc.

The stock most bought by foreigners was Hanmi Science Co Ltd , followed by SK innovation Co Ltd and Lotte Chemical Corp.

On the currency market, the South Korean won on Wednesday closed local trade up 1 per cent to 1,189.4 per dollar.

REUTERS