The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, was 3.7% higher at 1916.18, its highest finish since Nov. 7 as both domestic institutions and foreigners aggressively snatched up local stocks worth a net KRW1.1 trillion and KRW628 billion, respectively.
The coordinated action "is meaningful in a sense that the help is coming from all-around, not just Europe...With this, Europe is bound to come up with their own measures," soon, in a bid to resolve the region's sovereign debt crisis, said Shinhan Investment Corp. analyst Lee Sun-yup. "This is just the start."
Lee expects the index to build on the momentum in the near term, possibly rising as high as 2050.
Buying on the Kospi heated up in the afternoon, triggering the Korea Exchange to briefly halt programmed trading for five minutes from 0437 GMT to 0442 GMT, its first such attempt this year to cool a frenzied market. The last time KRX temporarily seized program trading was to alleviate selling momentum on Oct. 4.
Gains were broad-based across sectors with brokerages outperforming: Woori Investment & Securities ended 14.1% higher at KRW11,350 while Daewoo Securities advanced 13.4% to KRW10,700.
Cyclicals such as chemicals steels and techs also shined. SK Innovation ended 8.3% up at KRW175,500 while Hanwha Chemical climbed KRW11.4% to KRW28,450. Electronics giant Samsung Electronics (005930.SE) rose 7% to KRW1,074,000.
How shares of Hana Financial and Korea Exchange Bank perform will be eyed after a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires earlier in the day that Hana has agreed a deal with Lone Star Funds to buy a 51.02% stake in KEB for KRW3.916 trillion ($3.48 billion), 11% cheaper than the original sale price of KRW4.41 trillion.
Market focus will also be on whether local retail investors continue to offload stocks after dumping a net KRW1.7 trillion worth shares Thursday alone, capping Kospi's gains.
No comments:
Post a Comment