Seoul Shares Surge Nearly 2 Percent on Positive U.S. Data and Limited Impact of Export Curbs.

Seoul: South Korean stocks soared nearly 2 percent Tuesday on better-than-expected U.S. industry data and Washington's export curbs targeting China having a limited impact on the market. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 45.62 points, or 1.86 percent, to close at 2,500.1.According to Yonhap News Agency, trade volume was moderate at 314.4 million shares worth 8.87 trillion won (US$6.32 billion), with winners outpacing losers 733 to 163. Foreigners bought a net 538.8 billion won, while individuals dumped a net 840 billion won. Institutions bought a net 284.1 billion won.Overnight, the U.S. unveiled an export control package, which includes restrictions on exports of high-bandwidth memory chips to China. However, local chipmakers are expected to be largely unaffected by the move given their small interest in the Chinese market. Investors cheered the better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) for November."All possible negative factors were significantly reflected for the moment," said Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities Co. The analyst said the PMI data also signals better performance of exporters. Top tech giant Samsung Electronics remained unchanged at 53,600 won, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 3.84 percent to 164,900 won.Financial shares closed sharply higher, with KB Financial adding 4.98 percent to 101,200 won and Shinhan Financial climbing 4.64 percent to 56,400 won. Korea Zinc shot up 9.28 percent to 1,542,000 won amid the company's management dispute. Carmakers closed mixed, with Hyundai Motor falling 0.69 percent to 214,500 won while its sister Kia added 4.03 percent to 98,000 won.The local currency was trading at 1,402.9 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 1.6 won from the previous session. Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 1.8 basis points to 2.585 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds rose 1 basis point to 2.606 percent.