Seoul: Shares rise to 2-mth highs, helped by foreign buying; won up

[SEOUL] Seoul shares on Thursday rose for a fourth straight session to a near two-month high, after choppy trading, helped by foreign buying in local equities.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 0.7 per cent at 2,019.53 points, retreating slightly from a near two-month intraday high of 2,020.19. On a weekly basis, the KOSPI gained 2.5 per cent. South Korean markets will be closed on Friday for a public holiday.

Foreigners were net buyers for a third consecutive session, purchasing a net 185.3 billion won (S$225.9 million) of shares on the main board, preliminary data showed.

The South Korean won ended up 0.2 per cent at 1,159.0 per dollar, rising for a fourth straight session on continued expectations the US Federal Reserve will put off the timing of the first rates hike in almost a year.

For the week, it rose 1.9 per cent, marking the biggest weekly percentage gain since Dec 2, 2011.

REUTERS