SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks kept a record-breaking trend for two straight sessions Tuesday as foreign investors continued to buy local stocks for 14 trading days running.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 15.17 points, 0.58 percent, to settle at 2,617.76. Trading volume stood at 1.35 billion shares worth 16.6 trillion won (14.9 billion U.S. dollars).
The KOSPI started 0.53 percent and moved in positive territory throughout the session.
The main index posted a record closing high for the second consecutive day as foreigners remained net buyers in the domestic stock market for 14 sessions in a row.
Hope arose for the COVID-19 treatment and vaccine candidates, while uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election eased, contributing to the continued foreign purchase of local stocks.
However, retail and institutional investors were net sellers amid the lingering worry about the COVID-19 resurgence here.
In the latest tally, South Korea reported 349 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 31,353.
The daily caseload rose above 300 after posting 271 in the previous day. It grew in triple digits for 17 days running.
Among large-cap shares, gainers outnumbered decliners. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.3 percent, and leading chemical firm LG Chem advanced 6.8 percent. The most-used search engine Naver went up 0.4 percent, and biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion rose 0.2 percent.
The biggest automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.1 percent, and rechargeable battery producer Samsung SDI soared 4.9 percent. Kakao Corp., an operator of the country's most popular mobile messenger Kakao Talk, picked up 1.6 percent, but memory chip giant SK hynix declined 1.4 percent. Samsung BioLogics, the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group slipped 0.3 percent.
The small-cap KOSDAQ lost 1.19 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 872.10.
The local currency finished at 1,112.7 won versus the greenback, down 2.3 won from the previous close.
Bond prices ended lower. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes rose 0.8 basis points to 0.963 percent, and the return on the 10-year government bonds added 1.7 basis points to 1.598 percent. Enditem
