Kospi ends higher on chip gains amid hopes for shareholder return plans
Stocks rose 0.88 percent as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fueled optimism over massive shareholder return plans.
A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 6,912.95 points on Aug. 21, up 60.37 points, or 0.88 percent, from the previous trading session.
YONHAP
Stocks ended higher on Friday as investors pinned hopes on large-scale shareholder return schemes from the country's top two chipmakers — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The won rose against the dollar.
The Kospi closed up 60.37 points, or 0.88 percent, to 6,912.95, after rising as high as 6,954.12.
Trade volume was moderate at 404.5 million shares worth 28.7 trillion won ($20.7 billion). Losers far outnumbered winners 681 to 193.
Retail and foreign investors were net sellers, offloading a combined 1.34 trillion won. Institutional investors, on the other hand, snapped up 248.2 billion won.
"Local stocks were boosted by shareholder return plans by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, which overshadowed external uncertainties," Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said.
SK hynix announced Wednesday a plan to repurchase some 40 trillion won worth of common shares as part of a shareholder return plan.
Top cap Samsung Electronics is also expected to announce a shareholder return scheme worth up to 110 trillion won later in the day.
But further advance was limited due to external uncertainties as the U.S. Treasury Department's surprise bond buyback failed to quell lingering concerns about inflation and government debts, and pushed bond yields upward.
Large-cap shares closed mixed.
Samsung Electronics rose 3.87 percent to 281,500 won, while SK hynix added 2.31 percent to 1,730,000 won.
Financial shares gathered ground as investors went bargain hunting.
KB Financial increased 2.69 percent to 164,300 won, while Shinhan Financial Holdings rose 2.97 percent to 104,100 won.
Among the decliners were defense and shipbuilders, weighed on by profit-taking.
Hanwha Aerospace declined 7.03 percent to 1,085,000 won, and shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shed 4.73 percent to 453,000 won.
Shares of Kakao also fell by a sharp 7.49 percent to 35,800 won, following the announcement to spin off its chat-app-based platform business.
The local currency rose 6.1 won from the previous session to trade at 1,385.5 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m.
Yonhap
