The Korea Herald

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Seoul stocks open higher on positive outlook

By 정민경

Published : June 30, 2016 - 09:38

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares opened higher on June 30, on the heels of gains in US stocks following hopes that a new stimulus package along with market stabilization steps will ease the impact of Brexit.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.68 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,966.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The main index recovered ground from the plunge following Brexit vote, rising for three consecutive days on June 29.

Investors are closely watching if governments and central banks execute fiscal stimulus packages and take monetary easing steps to minimize the post-Brexit market turmoil, analysts said.

Early this week Korea unveiled a plan to pump 20 trillion won ($17 billion), including a 10-trillion-won supplementary budget, into the economy to ease uncertainties and underpin its flagging economy.

On June 29, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 284.96 points, or 1.64 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 1.86 percent.

Most large-cap stocks advanced across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.50 percent, leading cosmetics maker AmorePacific gained 0.35 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix was up 0.47 percent.

Among decliners, top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.44 percent and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. slid 0.33 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,154.65 won against the US dollar, up 5.55 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)