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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Stocks & Bonds

Seoul stocks rally on upbeat earnings

  • PUBLISHED :April 18, 2018 - 16:37
  • UPDATED :April 18, 2018 - 16:37
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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s main bourse ended sharply higher on April 18 as investors cheered strong earnings by American firms and high hopes for eased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The Korean won weakened against the US dollar.

The benchmark KOSPI added 26.21 points, or 1.07 percent, to close at 2,479.98. Trade volume was high at 639.82 million shares worth 8.07 trillion won (US$7.55 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 513 to 301.

Foreign investors and institutions bought a net 343.68 billion won and 52.87 billion won worth of local shares, respectively, while retailers sold 388.12 billion won worth of shares.

Large-cap stocks moved up across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics soared 2.76 percent to 2,568,000 won, and SK hynix surged 2.17 percent to 84,600 won.

Steelmakers and chemicals also rallied, with No. 1 steelmaker POSCO jumping 4.95 percent to 349,400 won and LG Chem rising 2.04 percent to 376,000 won.

But bio stocks fell, after experts warned of a possible bubble bursting in the bio industry following their recent rallies.

Samsung Biologics tumbled 2.18 percent to 539,000 won, and Celltrion, a major pharmaceutical firm, shed 1.9 percent to 284,500 won.

The local currency closed at 1,068.60 won against the US dollar, down 1.60 won from the previous session’s close.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)

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