Seoul shares rebound on institutional buying

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks rebounded late Wednesday morning
as institutional investors picked up shares, shrugging off overnight falls in
U.S. markets, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 5.43 points, or
0.48 percent, to 1,134.16 as of 11:20 a.m.
"The key stock index started weaker, mirroring U.S. falls, but in the morning
session, the Seoul bourse reversed earlier losses on the back of institutional
buying," said Bae Sung-young, an analyst at Hyundai Securities Co. "But bank
shares were under selling pressure after Fitch Ratings cut its outlook for credit
ratings for local financial firms."
Fitch downgraded Tuesday its long- term foreign-currency issuer default ratings
outlooks for local financial firms from "stable" to "negative."
U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday as worse-than-expected corporate earnings raised
fears about a global recession. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 1.99
percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index shed 2.22 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,340.3 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 10.4 won from Tuesday's close.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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