Seoul shares rise 1.42 pct on eased eurozone woes

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks finished 1.42 percent higher Thursday on eased concern over a Greek default, but the gains were limited due to looming fears over rating downgrades of bigger economies like Italy and France, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After volatile trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 24.92 points to 1,774.08. Trading volume was moderate at 387 million shares worth 6.2 trillion won (US$5.55 billion) with losers outnumbering gainers 428 to 400. "European leaders renewed their commitment to resolving the Greek debt crisis. But it's not enough to completely soothe the markets," said analyst Park Sung-hoon from Woori Investment & Securities Co. "There still remains concerns over a default as global credit rating agencies are expected to cut sovereign ratings of Italy and France." Foreigners dumped a net 193 billion won worth of shares, extending their selling spree to an eighth consecutive session and offsetting net buying by institutions and retail investors. "Foreigners are fleeing the local bourse for safer assets as they know that the recent global turmoil is very similar to the U.S.-led financial crisis a few years ago," said Park. He said investors seemed cautious ahead of an Italian debt sale scheduled for Thursday and a meeting of European finance ministers on Friday, which will affect the South Korean stock market after the weekend. Tech firms were among the biggest winners on the bourse. The world's biggest memory chip maker Samsung Electronics rose 2.39 percent to 771,000 won and its smaller rival LG Electronics jumped 1.17 percent to finish at 60,400 won. Steelmakers and carmakers also gained ground with leading POSCO climbing 1.86 percent to 411,500 won and top auto manufacturer Hyundai Motor up 3.93 percent to 198,500 won. Refiners were bullish on optimistic second-quarter earnings prospects, with market leader SK Innovation soaring 5.81 percent to 164,000 won and No. 3 player S-Oil skyrocketing 11.47 percent to close at 121,500 won. But financial companies and banks slumped, with Shinhan Financial Group sinking 4.35 percent to 38,450 won and KB Financial Group, parent of top lender Kookmin Bank, losing 2.01 percent to 36,500 won. The local currency closed at 1,116.45 won to the greenback, down 8.65 won from Wednesday's close, as foreign investors sold Seoul stocks, dealers said.