The Kospi and other indexes are displayed on a screen at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The Kospi opened up 92.97 points, or 1.47 percent, at 6,438.50, while the Kosdaq opened down 2.99 points, or 0.35 percent, at 854.85. [Yonhap]
The Kospi and other indexes are displayed on a screen at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The Kospi opened up 92.97 points, or 1.47 percent, at 6,438.50, while the Kosdaq opened down 2.99 points, or 0.35 percent, at 854.85. [Yonhap]

The Kospi extended its early gains Wednesday, rising more than 2 percent, as strength in semiconductor stocks carried over from Wall Street and lifted large-cap chip names despite a broad overnight decline across all three major US indexes.

As of 9:23 a.m., the Kospi stood at 6,492.30, up 2.31 percent, or 146.77 points, from the previous session. The index opened at 6,438.50, up 1.47 percent, and continued to build on those gains on the back of foreign buying.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 212.1 billion won ($150 million) on the Kospi market at the same time. Institutions and retail investors were net sellers of 11.3 billion won and 186.8 billion won, respectively.

Semiconductor heavyweights were driving the domestic market, buoyed by overnight gains in US chip stocks. Samsung Electronics was trading up 4.07 percent, or 9,750 won, at 249,250 won. SK Hynix rose 3.02 percent, or 43,000 won, to 1.47 million won.

SK Square gained 6.03 percent, Samsung Life rose 4.66 percent, Samsung Electro-Mechanics advanced 3.57 percent and Samsung Electronics preferred shares climbed 3.05 percent. LG Energy Solution added 1.41 percent and Hyundai Motor edged up 0.74 percent. Samsung Biologics bucked the trend, slipping 0.25 percent.

Market analysts said that despite caution ahead of the US July consumer price index release and rising oil prices, overnight strength in semiconductor stocks and bargain buying following recent index declines were supporting the market. "The relative outperformance of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and perceptions of oversold conditions are providing downside support, pointing to a weak-open, strong-close session today," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

The Kosdaq, meanwhile, was down 1.68 percent, or 14.43 points, at 843.41 at the same time. The index opened at 854.85, down 0.35 percent, and has since recovered some of its losses.

Retail investors were the sole buyers propping up the Kosdaq. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 104.1 billion won and 46.9 billion won, respectively, while retail investors were net buyers of 159.3 billion won.

The Kosdaq's divergence from the Kospi reflects profit-taking after a sharp recent rally. The index surged 33.0 percent over eight trading sessions, climbing from 644.78 on July 30 to 857.84 on Tuesday. The run included a record single-day gain of 11.63 percent on July 31, followed by advances of 5.88 percent on Aug. 4 and 6.97 percent on Monday.


kacew@heraldcorp.com