Seoul stocks trim earlier gains late Tuesday morning

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks erased part of earlier gains late Tuesday morning as investors cashed in part of recent gains.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.72 points, or 0.60 percent, to 1,802.60 as of 11:15 a.m.

The main index tracked overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 7.73 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 7.33 percent.

U.S. stocks soared as the number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States and Europe fell, which boosted investor sentiment, said Huh Jae-hwan, a strategist at Eugene Investment Co.

In South Korea, the number of new infection cases also stayed below 50 for the second straight day, raising hopes that the country is containing the novel coronavirus.

Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities Co., said foreigners and institutions turned net sellers on profit-taking by taking advantage of a rebound in the local stock market, which had fallen due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Individuals bought a net 330.7 billion won (US$270 million) worth of stocks, offsetting combined net selling valued at 333 billion won by foreigners and institutions.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.03 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. was up 2.17 percent and top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.79 percent.

Among decliners, South Korea's top online portal operator Naver fell 2.89 percent, and the country's top steelmaker POSCO was down 0.31 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,221.40 won against the U.S. dollar, up 7.90 won from the previous session's close.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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