Seoul: Stocks gain, led by large-caps; won calm

[SEOUL] South Korean shares rose early on Tuesday led by gains in large-cap shares, while investors cautiously awaited second-quarter earnings guidance from other companies.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) was up 0.4 per cent at 2,391.71 points as of 0227 GMT.

Steelmaker Posco was up over 2 per cent while web portal Naver Corp climbed 2.5 per cent.

However, overall trading seems to be slow as market participants are still uncertain about how much the Kospi could gain in coming quarters, said Kim Hyung-Ryeol, a stock analyst at Kyobo Securities.

"Forecasts for sectors other than IT are not that optimistic, making market participants think twice about investing more."

Offshore investors were poised to be net sellers, offloading 18.2 billion Korean won (S$21.94 million) worth of Kospi shares.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 417 to 367.

The South Korean won also tread water, awaiting Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's testimony in Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.

The won edged up 0.1 per cent at 1,148.9 against the US dollar versus previous close at 1,149.5.

September futures on three-year treasury bonds shed 0.02 point to 109.14.

REUTERS