Samsung Electronics extends KOSPI rally
Seoul stocks extended record gains for four straight trading days, surpassing 2,550 points buoyed by foreign investments in tech shares, especially of Samsung Electronics, analysts said Wednesday.
The benchmark KOSPI closed at an all-time high of 2,556.47 points, up 1.31 percent or 33.04 points. Foreign investors bought Seoul shares worth over 304 billion won.
Analysts say Samsung’s strong growth on semiconductors led the bullish rally following its record earnings in the third quarter.
This has positively spilled over to other tech stocks, including SK hynix.
“Samsung’s dividend policy and stellar semiconductor business is driving the rally,” said Yang Ki-in, an analyst at Shinhan Investment.
Analysts expect Samsung shares to surpass 3 million won in six months.
The tech giant closed at a record 2,861,000 won, up 107,000 won or 3.89 percent. Its 52-week high was 2,772,000 won.
On Tuesday, Samsung reported an operating profit of 14.53 trillion won in the third quarter, up 179 percent from the previous quarter.
Its record core earnings were attributable to its strong DRAM and NAND flash memory chip business, which accounted for more than 68 percent of its operating profit.
Its semiconductors also contributed to an annual increase of 7 percent in Korean exports last month, helping the country gain in trade for 12 straight months, according to the trade ministry.
This has further cemented Samsung as the world’s top memory chipmaker, whose valuation is expected to be rated again soon amid positive outlooks.
“The semiconductor up-cycle and stronger shareholder return policy will likely drive a stock re-rating,” said Greg Roh, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Investment Securities.
The analyst forecast Samsung shares could reach as high as 3.4 million won in 12 months.
Samsung said it will pay 50 percent of its free cash flow to its shareholders every year from 2018 to 2020, and pay 9.6 trillion won in cash dividends in the same period. The company also named three new younger heads of its semiconductor, consumer electronics and mobile businesses.
SK hynix, the second-biggest company on the main bourse, closed at 85,300 won, up 3.77 percent or 3,100 won.
The local rally on foreign invest- ments also followed overnight gains on Wall Street where global investors continued their bullish trading of tech stocks led by Apple, which is about to release its iPhone X with new features such as wireless charging, analysts say.
Improved sentiment on the U.S. economy also positively affected Seoul stocks, following a Conference Board report that the American consumer confidence index reached 125.9 last month, the highest in 17 years.