Seoul shares closed higher, surpassing the 4,000 mark for the first time

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares closed higher Monday, surpassing the 4,000 mark for the first time, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street and strong advances in technology stocks amid hopes for a comprehensive U.S.-China trade deal. The Korean won also rose against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 101.24 points, or 2.57 percent, to close at 4,042.83.
Trade volume was heavy at 513.48 million shares worth 20.04 trillion won (US$14 billion), with gainers beating decliners 561 to 319.
On Friday (U.S. time), U.S. stocks also advanced, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.01 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbing 1.15 percent.
Institutions and foreign investors bought a net 234.07 billion won and 645.54 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors sold a net 794.51 billion won.
"The rally came largely on the back of optimism over a possible trade deal between the world's two largest economies and rising appetite for risk assets amid expectations of further U.S. rate cuts," Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities Co., said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday (U.S. time) that a trade deal with China is "pretty close to being finalized," adding he is "ready" if the Asian nation is ready to finalize details of the framework agreement reached in July.
Most large-cap stocks advanced.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 3.24 percent to 102,000 won, and chip rival SK hynix jumped 4.9 percent to 535,000 won. It is the first time for Samsung to close at above 100,000 won per share.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.79 percent to 255,500 won, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai surged 17.02 percent to 212,500 won.
Among decliners, state utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. fell 0.69 percent to 43,000 won, and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings dropped 1.69 percent to 320,000 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,431.70 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 5.40 won from the previous session.

Sumber : yna.co.kr