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| This photo shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in Myeongdong, central Seoul, Feb. 16. Yonhap |
Seoul stocks soared by nearly 2 percent Thursday, boosted by gains in large-cap tech and auto stocks amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's further rate hikes. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 47.58 points, or 1.96 percent, to close at 2,475.48.
Trading volume was moderate at 378.9 million shares worth 8.97 trillion won ($6.98 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 671 to 213.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 percent to 34,128.05 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent to 12,070.59.
Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 912 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' selling valued at 936 billion won.
Institutional buying helped the main index close in positive territory in today's session, analysts said.
Investors now await U.S. employment data to be released Thursday (U.S. time) to take a cue in their future investment directions, following hotter-than-expected inflation data Tuesday.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index data showed prices rose at a higher-than-expected clip of 0.5 percent in January. The Fed said it is not done yet in its monetary tightening to bring down inflation.
In Seoul, most large-cap stocks advanced.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 2.4 percent to 63,700 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix climbed 1.3 percent to 92,900 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor jumped 3.8 percent to 179,300 won, and leading refiner SK Innovation gained 3.2 percent to 160,000 won.
Among decliners, leading wireless services provider SK Telecom fell 4.3 percent to 44,600 won, while Hybe, the entertainment agency behind supergroup BTS, dropped 3.4 percent to 190,500 won.
The local currency traded at 1,284.8 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.6 won from the previous session's close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 0.2 basis point to 3.504 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds climbed 0.4 basis point to 3.504 percent. (Yonhap)
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