South Korean shares rise after three-day decline, Samsung Electronics gains

Aug 21, 2025, 11:54 GMT+7
Key points:

• KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
• Korean won weakens against dollar
• South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

(Reuters)- South Korean shares rose on Thursday, after three straight sessions of declines, led by gains in chipmaker Samsung Electronics and a rally in petrochemical firms.
** The benchmark KOSPIwas up 22.69 points, or 0.72%, at 3,152.78 as of 0436 GMT.
** Samsung Electronicsjumped 1.13%, extending gains to a third consecutive session.
** U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the government taking equity stakes in chipmakers, such as Samsung Electronics, in exchange for grants under the CHIPS Act, which aims to spur factory-building in the U.S.
** "That will lead to stronger ties with the U.S. government, which may serve as an opportunity to ease tariff and aother political risks," said Jeff Kim, an analyst at KB Securities.
** LG Chemrose 4.59% and Lotte Chemicalsurged 8.20%, after the government said financial institutions agreed to provide support to petrochemical companies coming up with sincere plans for business restructuring.
** Among other index heavyweights, chipmaker SK Hynixlost 3.72%, while battery maker LG Energy Solutionslid 0.13%.
** Hyundai Motorand sister automaker Kia Corpwere up 0.23% and down 0.29%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdingsadded 2.34%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogicsrose 0.25%.
** Of the total 935 traded issues, 571 shares advanced, while 313 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 109.6 billion won ($78.4 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,398.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.07% lower than its previous close at 1,397.2.
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds (KTBc1) lost 0.02 point to 107.30.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield (KR3YT=RR) rose by 0.8 basis point to 2.445%, while the benchmark 10-year yieldfell by 0.1 basis point to 2.853%.
($1 = 1,398.2000 won)

Sumber : Reuters