South Korean shares gain after last session`s rout on tax revision hopes

Published on 08/04/2025 at 03:13 am EDT

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

(Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares staged a modest recovery on Monday, after falling nearly 4% in the last session, as investor optimism grew that the government might revise tax hike proposals, which had triggered a market rout last week.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 28.34 points, or 0.91%, at 3,147.75. On Friday, it declined 3.9%, its biggest daily drop since early April.
** Last week, a presidential spokesperson downplayed concerns, saying the sharp market drop was unlikely to have been caused by the proposal to raise taxes on stock investments.
** However, in response to investor criticism, the ruling Democratic Party will revisit the proposed measures, its leader said on Monday, according to local media reports.
** "There is a possibility that the proposal will be revised because this government has been sensitive to public approvals," said Par Kwang-nam, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.16% and peer SK Hynix was flat. Battery maker LG Energy Solution added 0.67%.
** Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia gained 0.48% and 1.98%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 0.17%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics climbed 1.35%.
** Search Engine Naver advanced 3.33% after its team was selected as one of the five recipients of government support for developing artificial intelligence technologies. Chat app Kakao, which was not among the winners, erased early gains to end 0.18% lower.
** Of the total 935 traded issues, 678 advanced and 212 declined.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 83.3 billion won ($60.2 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,385.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.22% higher than Friday's close of 1,388.3.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell 5.6 basis points to 2.420%, while the benchmark 10-year yield lost 6.5 basis points to 2.773%. ($1 = 1,384.2800 won)
 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sumana Nandy) 

Sumber : Reuters