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Seoul shares up for 4th day on end to U.S. gov't shutdown

Published: 13 Nov. 2025, 18:09

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 4,170.63 points on Nov. 13, up 20.24 points, or 0.49 percent, from the previous session. [YONHAP]

Shares closed higher Thursday, extending their winning streak to a fourth session, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a funding bill to end the record-long U.S. government shutdown. The won weakened against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi rose 20.24 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 4,170.63.

Trading volume was moderate at 421.75 million shares worth 17.36 trillion won ($11.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 475 to 383.

Foreign investors bought a net 1 trillion won worth of shares, offsetting net selling by institutions and individuals, who respectively offloaded 709.19 billion won and 244.1 billion won worth of stocks.

Trump signed a government funding bill on Wednesday, ending a record 43-day government shutdown after both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the legislation.

"Expectations for an end to the U.S. shutdown continued to support investor sentiment, but losses in technology stocks kept the main index from rising further amid a lack of fresh upside momentum," said Lee Seong-hoon, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.25 percent.

Technology shares on Wall Street weakened after SoftBank Group sold its entire stake in Nvidia to help finance investments in AI.

"Investors will keep an eye on Nvidia's earnings results to be released next week to take a cue for reorganizing their portfolios," the analyst added.

In Seoul, shipbuilding and energy stocks led the gains.

Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 5.97 percent to 568,000 won, and Samsung Heavy Industries climbed 0.95 percent to 26,500 won.

LG Chem surged 6.61 percent to 419,500 won, and Samsung SDI, the No. 2 battery maker, gained 4.04 percent to 334,500 won.

Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.29 percent to 102,800 won, and its chip rival SK hynix lost 0.81 percent to 612,000 won.

No. 2 carmaker Kia fell 0.51 percent to 118,000 won, and Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, shed 0.58 percent to 103,200 won.

The exchange rate was quoted at 1,466.20 won against the greenback at 4:30 p.m., up 0.0.3 percent from the previous session's quote of 1,465.70 won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 1.9 basis points to 2.934 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds fell by 4.6 basis points to 4.071 percent.

Yonhap