Home > Business > Finance

Seoul shares rebound on defense, shipbuilding gains

Published: 21 Aug. 2025, 17:44

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 3,141.74 points on Aug. 21, up 11.65 points, or 0.37 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares closed higher Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak, as institutional investors scooped up defense and shipbuilding shares following a mixed finish on Wall Street. The local currency slightly weakened against the U.S. dollar.

The Kospi gained 11.65 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 3,141.74.

Trade
volume was light at 272.3 million shares worth 10.69 trillion won ($7.64 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 514 to 360.

The index opened higher after hitting a six-week low in the previous session. It extended gains on the back of strong institutional buying, although it trimmed some of the earlier advances.

Institutions purchased local shares worth 227.8 billion won, while retail and foreign investors sold 259 billion won and 83.6 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, the U.S. stock indexes ended mixed after tech heavyweights pared most of their earlier steep losses as investors eyed the Jackson Hole economic policy symposium, slated for Friday, where U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will make a speech on his outlook for the economy.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2 percent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.7 percent.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks ended mixed, with the defense, nuclear power and shipbuilding sectors leading the gains.

Defense shares traded strongly on expectations of rising global arms demand.

Defense powerhouse Hanwha Aerospace gained 2.21 percent to 834,000 won.

Nuclear power plant builder Doosan Enerbility jumped 7.14 percent to 61,500 won, following a dip the previous day, while leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries rose 4.77 percent to 472,000 won.

Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said ahead of President Lee Jae Myung's visit to the United States next week that there was bargain hunting in several sectors.

“The rebound in sectors such as nuclear power, defense and shipbuilding — which had led the recent downturn — helped lift the index,” Lee said.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics edged up 0.14 percent to 70,600 won while its rival, SK hynix, slid 4.11 percent to 245,000 won, continuing a five-day losing streak.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution went down 1.32 percent to 372,500 won after opening higher.

The local currency was quoted at 1,398.3 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 0.55 percent from the previous session of 1,390.7 won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys decreased 0.3 basis point to 2.438 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds went down 0.6 basis point to 2.605 percent.

Yonhap