Seoul: Seoul shares closed slightly higher Thursday amid heightened concerns over high-level trade talks between South Korea and the United States. The Korean won rose sharply against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 6.68 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 3,190.45.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the index had surpassed the 3,230-point mark during the morning session, but trimmed earlier gains on news the "2+2" high-level trade talks between Seoul and Washington, originally planned for Friday (U.S. time) in Washington, were postponed due to the urgent schedule of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The two sides had planned to hold the high-stake negotiations involving Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and their respective Korean counterparts -- Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo.
"News like this ahead of the planned imposition of 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on Aug. 1 raises concerns for investors," Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said. "After the news, major Korean automobile firms trimmed their earlier gains or turned to losses," he added.
Trade volume was moderate at 422.4 million shares worth 12.9 trillion won (US$9.4 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 707 to 192. Foreigners and institutions purchased local shares worth 736.7 billion won and 128.8 billion won, respectively, while retail investors dumped 950.9 billion won.
Battery and shipbuilding shares were particularly strong in Thursday's session. Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shot up 9.36 percent to 368,000 won and its smaller rival Samsung SDI advanced 3.09 percent to 190,300 won. Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy rose 1.69 percent to 420,000 won and Hanwha Ocean jumped 6.35 percent to 88,800 won. Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace also soared 3.41 percent to 941,000 won, while biopharmaceutical powerhouse Samsung Biologics climbed 2.26 percent to 1.09 million won. Major power equipment builder Doosan Enerbility also surged 3.15 percent to 65,400 won.
Korean chipmaking giant SK hynix rose 0.19 percent to 269,500 won after the company reported record high operating profit and sales for the April-June period, while its rival Samsung Electronics lost 0.6 percent to 66,000 won. Top automaker Hyundai Motor, meanwhile, slid 2.03 percent to 217,500 won with a sharp drop in operating profit in the second quarter partially due to the effects of 25 percent auto tariffs by the Trump administration. Its sister, Kia, also went down 1.04 percent to 105,000 won.
IT shares also lost ground. Naver, the operator of Korea's largest internet portal, dipped 1.94 percent to 227,000 won, and Kakao, the operator of the country's dominant mobile messenger, shed 1.64 percent to 54,100 won. The local currency was quoted at 1,367.2 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., sharply up 12.6 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 0.9 basis point to 2.467 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds increased 1.1 basis points to 2.626 percent.