Seoul shares up on machinery, finance gains

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks gained marginally late Tuesday
morning as institutions and retail investors snapped up machinery, finance and
other blue-chip stocks, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.02 points, or 0.34
percent, to 1,465.36 as of 11:20 a.m.
"The local bourse is holding up fine, considering Wall Street's steep losses on
Monday over uncertainties related to the U.S. government's plan to rescue ailing
financial companies," said Lim Dong-min, an analyst at Dongbu Securities.
U.S. stocks slumped on Monday as investors grew nervous about its Washington's
plan to buy US$700 billion in banks' mortgage debt. The Dow Jones industrial
average plunged 3.27 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index fell
4.17 percent.
Investment pattern seems to be increasingly parting away from U.S. market
movements, Lim said, noting that investors have suffered heavily after aligning
themselves with Wall Street's wild rollercoaster movement last week.
Heavy machinery and finance stocks led the overall gains. Leading power generator
producer Doosan Heavy Industries rose 1.82 percent and Mirae Asset & Securities
added 1.76 percent.
Tech exporters also gained ground, erasing overall losses in early trading. Top
home appliance maker LG Electronics climbed 1.42 percent and chip giant Hynix
Semiconductor gained 0.26 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,149.2 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 9 won from Monday's close.