Strong Chip Stock Gains Push South Korean Markets Higher for Third Day
South Korean stocks closed sharply higher for a third straight session on Wednesday, led by gains across key chip stocks, despite overnight losses on Wall Street as investor sentiment toward a possible U.S.-Iran peace agreement weakened.Market movers Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) and SK Hynix (KRX:000660) added 7% and 6%, respectively, at the end of the trading day.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, increased by 233.51 points, or 3.7%, to close at 6,579.04. The Kosdaq also rose by 1.07 points, or 0.12%, to close at 858.91.In economic news, South Korea's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched up to 2.8% in July from 2.7% in June, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics released on Wednesday.The reading was also up from 2.7% a year earlier.The labor force participation rate edged down to 65% from 65.2% in June.The total number of employed persons fell to 29.14 million in July from 29.15 million the previous month, while the number of unemployed shrank to 776,000 from 834,000.In corporate news, Kolmar Korea (KRX:161890) posted a 68% year-over-year jump in net income to 52.1 billion won in the second quarter from 31 billion won, according to a Wednesday filing with the Korea Exchange.Net sales increased 32% to 430.4 billion won for the three months ended June 30 from 328.1 billion won a year earlier.Shares of the South Korean pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing firm gained 23% at market close.
