Seoul: South Korean stocks finished markedly higher to hit a 10-month high Thursday, driven by gains in tech shares, following strong earnings from U.S. chip giant Nvidia Corp. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 50.49 points, or 1.89 percent, to close at 2,720.64.
According to Yonhap News Agency, it marked the highest level since August 2, when the index finished at 2,725.02. Trade volume was moderate at 444.45 million shares worth 10.79 trillion won (US$7.8 billion), with winners beating losers 749 to 151. Institutions and foreign investors bought a net 684.56 billion won and 290.27 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, while individuals sold 996.99 billion won worth of shares.
The KOSPI received a boost from Nvidia's earnings results. It reported a 69 percent on-year increase in revenue, reaching US$44.1 billion for the February-April period, analysts noted. "With the vast majority of U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariffs blocked by the U.S. trade court, institutional and foreign buying pushed up the benchmark index," Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities Co., commented.
In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led the rally. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 0.36 percent to 56,100 won, while chip giant SK hynix jumped 1.92 percent to 212,000 won. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor gained 2.74 percent to 191,000 won, its smaller affiliate Kia rose 4.72 percent to 93,200 won, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai surged 11.26 percent to 108,700 won.
Among the decliners, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 0.35 percent to 288,000 won, and state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. shed 2.48 percent to 29,550 won. The local currency was quoted at 1,375.9 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 0.6 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 2.7 basis points to 2.341 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds climbed 3.3 basis points to 2.500 percent.