Seoul shares up on bargain hunting

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks gained ground late Tuesday morning, reversing earlier losses, after bargain hunters picked up exporters and other blue chips following recent steep losses, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.91 points, or 0.73
percent, to 953.36 as of 11:20 a.m.
"Battered stock prices seems to be the sole encouraging factor for investors now,
as institutions are picking up steeply devaluated large caps," said Bae
Sung-young, an analyst at Hyundai Securities said.
The KOSPI has more than halved from its historic high of 2,085 points in Nov.
2007, largely on selling by offshore investors. Foreign selling amounted to some
34.3 trillion won so far this year, according to the Korea Exchange, the bourse
operator.
Exporters led the overall gains, with tech and automakers gaining substantially.
Shipbuilders and steel stocks also added ground.
On Monday, U.S. stocks took a plunge on weak earnings outlooks and continued
market jitters. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 2.42 percent to a five-year
low and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index also fell 2.97 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,484.7 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 42.2 won from Monday's close.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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