SEOUL: South Korean stocks jumped to a new 1-month high on Tuesday as shareholders gamble that the chance of a Greek exit from the euro zone stayed low, although an election victory by the anti-austerity Syriza party.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.39 per cent at 1,943.27 points as of 0215 GMT.
Greece’s left-wing leader Alexis Tsipras was sworn in on Monday as the prime minister of the first euro-zone government openly resisting austerity, putting the country on a potential e collision course with international creditors.
“Of course, there will friction when they two parties meet to renew the country’s bailout terms, but it is also in their mutual interest to ensure that Greece stays in the euro zone,” said Kim Jong-soo, an economist at Taurus Securities.
“The euro zone’s other peripheral economies are also in a much healthier state compared to the previous crisis and the establishment of the ESM and banking unions have removed many systematic weaknesses,” he added.
Bargain hunters locked in on recently-battered energy counters, with LG Chem surging 4.6 per cent while SK Innovation gained 3.2 per cent.
