Seoul Stocks Rebound, Led by Tech Heavyweights Amid Bargain Hunting

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks snapped their two-day losing streak and closed sharply higher Tuesday, as investors went bargain hunting for tech heavyweights. The Korean won closed higher against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stocks Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 231.68 points, or 3.56 percent, at 6,747.95.

The index lost ground in early trading but sharply rebounded around noon, triggering the bourse operator to halt program trading for five minutes.

Trade volume was moderate at 387.8 million shares worth 24.5 trillion won (US$16.6 billion). Winners outnumbered losers 484 to 380.

Foreigners and institutional investors were net buyers, snapping up a combined 1.67 trillion won. Retail investors offloaded a net 1.64 trillion won.

"Stocks were boosted by bargain hunting concentrated on semiconductors," which was partly supported by a bullish outlook on the memory chip sector from global investment banks, analyst Lee Kyoung-min from Daishin Securities said.

The latest monthly export figure, which marked the highest for any July, further backed such a sentiment, with outbound shipments of semiconductors growing 180.6 percent as of July 20.

On the Middle East front, Tehran confirmed it received new mediation proposals from Pakistan and Qatar aimed at ending the conflict with the United States, further increasing risk appetite, the analyst added.

Market heavyweights closed higher across the board.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 6.15 percent to 259,000 won, while its industry rival SK hynix added 4.08 percent to 1,836,000 won.

Portal operator Naver climbed 3.82 percent to 193,000 won on reports the executives of the company, including its founder, are set to visit the Canadian headquarters of Brookfield, one of the largest alternative investment management companies in the world.

Discussions are likely to center on ways to finance Naver's massive data center and its artificial intelligence factory, according to industry watchers.

Among the decliners were bio firm Celltrion, which dipped 0.5 percent to 171,600 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor, which closed unchanged at 399,000 won, and battery maker LG Energy Solution, which retreated 0.16 percent to 317,000 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,473.4 won against the U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., up 5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys declined 2.8 basis points to 3.867 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds fell 3.4 basis points at 4.12 percent.