SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks hit a fresh closing high on Friday as foreigners scooped up domestic shares.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 16 points, or 0.64 percent, to settle at 2,496.63. Trading volume stood at 504.56 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won (5.5 billion U.S. dollars).
The KOSPI resumed its record-breaking winning streak in just two days. The main index broke its previous record high since Oct. 20 except for Thursday.
Foreigners turned into net sellers by purchasing a net 127 billion won worth of stocks, while buying the KOSPI 200 index futures in the derivatives market.
Institutional and individual investors were net sellers in the main bourse.
Appetite for risk assets such as stocks got strong following the European Central Bank (ECB)'s meeting overnight, market watchers said.
The ECB decided to reduce the scale of bond purchase, but it said the bond-buying policy would be extended to September next year.
Expectations were running high for the third-quarter corporate earnings of South Korean companies, encouraging foreigners to increase holdings of local stocks.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.3 percent, posting the first gain in four sessions. The No. 1 steelmaker POSCO advanced 2.9 percent, and the most-used search engine Naver jumped 4.6 percent.
Leading chemical firm LG Chem added 2.8 percent, but top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.6 percent. Memory chip giant SK Hynix fell 0.4 percent, and Samsung C&T, the de-facto holding company of Samsung Group, shed 1 percent.
South Korea's currency finished at 1,130.50 won against the greenback, down 5.90 won from the previous close.
Bond prices ended higher. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes fell 1.8 basis points to 2.164 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dipped 0.7 basis points to 2.536 percent.
