The closing figures for the Kospi and the won-dollar exchange rate are displayed on a screen at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]
The closing figures for the Kospi and the won-dollar exchange rate are displayed on a screen at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]

The Kospi reclaimed the 6,900 level on Friday, driven by a rally in Samsung Group shares on expectations that Samsung Electronics would announce a major shareholder-return program. The Kosdaq, meanwhile, tumbled more than 4%.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed up 60.37 points, or 0.88%, at 6,912.95.

The index opened sharply lower, falling 92.63 points, or 1.35%, to 6,759.95, and at one point during the session slid as far as 6,742.44. It subsequently erased those losses and turned positive.

On the Kospi market, institutional investors net purchased 248.5 billion won ($178 million), providing a floor for the index. Retail and foreign investors were net sellers of 1.17 trillion won and 175.8 billion won, respectively.

Strength across Samsung Group shares lifted the index, as expectations for a shareholder-return policy fueled buying interest.

Bloomberg reported Friday that Samsung Electronics would announce a new shareholder-return program worth between 90 trillion won and 110 trillion won at 4 p.m. that day. The prospect of expanded shareholder returns added upward pressure to Samsung Electronics and its affiliates.

Samsung Electronics closed up 3.87% from the previous session at 281,500 won. Samsung Life gained 10.61% and Samsung C&T rose 5.75%.

SK Hynix closed up 2.31% at 1.73 million won. The chipmaker drew concentrated net buying from other corporations following its decision to repurchase 40 trillion won worth of its own shares on the open market.

Among the top market-capitalization stocks, Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 5.73%, LG Energy Solution dropped 4.05% and Hanwha Aerospace declined 7.03%.

The Kospi's gains were capped by an overnight decline across all three major US equity indexes, which fell on rising US Treasury yields and concerns about slowing American consumer spending.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, the global bond benchmark, climbed 5 basis points to 4.70% on Thursday, reversing a brief calm that had followed the US Treasury's announcement that it would expand its long-term bond buyback program.

"Treasury Secretary Bessent stressed that the buyback volume could exceed $4 billion and that authorities have a range of tools at their disposal, but the market remains concerned that the policy effect may be limited," said Lee Gyeong-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

The Kosdaq closed down 38.95 points, or 4.63%, at 801.94.

The index opened down 16.84 points, or 2.00%, at 824.05 and extended its losses through the session. The sharp decline triggered a sell-side sidecar on the Kosdaq market at around 10:05 a.m.

On the Kosdaq, foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 283.6 billion won and 346.4 billion won, respectively. Retail investors were the sole net buyers, purchasing 623.5 billion won.

Most large-cap Kosdaq stocks fell. Ecopro dropped 7.26%, Alteogen declined 5.74% and Wonik IPS fell 5.27%.


moon@heraldcorp.com