SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares closed nearly 2% higher on Thursday, as chipmakers jumped following upbeat demand forecasts from Nvidia that eased investor worries around artificial intelligence stocks.
The benchmark KOSPI closed up 75.34 points, or 1.92%, at 4,004.85, after two consecutive sessions of losses.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Wednesday shrugged off concerns about an AI bubble as the company surprised Wall Street with accelerating growth after several quarters of slowing sales.
“Today’s gains in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix show the AI rally is yet to come to an end,” said Huh Jae-hwan, an analyst at Eugene Investment Securities.
Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 4.25% and peer SK Hynix gained 1.60%, leading the benchmark index higher.
Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.80%, but Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 0.76% and 0.96%, respectively.
Of the total 928 traded issues, 751 shares advanced, while 141 declined.
Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth 641.3 billion won ($436.79 million).
The won was quoted at 1,467.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.04% higher than its previous close at 1,468.5.
In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds slipped by 0.10 point to 105.81.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.8 basis points to 2.903%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.5 basis points to 3.320%.
American Dollar Exchange Rate