Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate: S.Korea KOSPI sets largest quarterly rise in 2-1/2 years

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S.Korea KOSPI sets largest quarterly rise in 2-1/2 years Mar 30th 2012, 08:19 Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:19am EDT * KOSPI ends flat, but posts best quarter since Q3 2009 * SK Hynix tumbles 4 pct as Toshiba reported to eye Elpida bid By Joonhee Yu SEOUL, March 30 (Reuters) - Seoul shares closed flat on Friday after a rangebound session, ending lower for the month but still logging the best quarterly performance in 2-1/2 years. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched 0.02 percent lower to close at 2,014.04, finishing with a 10.3 percent gain for the January-March period, its biggest quarterly advance since the third quarter of 2009 although posting a monthly fall of 0.8 percent. Trade was subdued on Friday, with investors taking to the sidelines ahead of a string of key events scheduled over the weekend, including a summit of European Union finance heads and the release of China's PMI data for March. "There wasn't much window-dressing as many had expected, with rumors swirling around Spain and caution ahead of the EU finance ministers' meeting further constraining the market, which is already starved of momentum," said Oh On-su, an analyst at Hyundai Securities. Oil and petrochemical counters were the biggest winners, as GS Holdings Corp, parent of South Korea's second-largest refiner, climbed 3.34 percent, while Hanhwa Chemical Corp rose 3.07 percent. Investors locked in profit on some recent outperforming blue-chips. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd edged 0.39 percent lower, posting a three-day skid on the heels of an all-time intraday high set on Tuesday. LG Display Co Ltd bounced 0.57 percent after a two-day slide that saw its share price tumble 7.7 percent following news of an LCD tie-up between rivals Sharp Corp and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd. Shipbuilders extended falls after a sharp decline on Thursday. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd stumbled 3 percent, while Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd slid 3.58 percent, with analysts pointing to a sobering shift in focus to upcoming first-quarter earnings. POSCO rose 0.66 percent, while STX Corp gained 0.74 percent after saying their consortium with Marubeni Corp would buy a 30 percent stake in the Roy Hill iron ore project in Australia from Hancock Prospecting for A$3.5 billion ($3.61 billion). SK Hynix Semiconductor tumbled 4.1 percent after Toshiba Corp was reported to have joined the race to sponsor Elpida Memory Inc, for which SK Hynix has also submitted a bid interest. "I think news that Toshiba is in the bidding added more pressure to Hynix share price," said Daewoo Securities analyst James Song. "If Hynix takes over Elpida on the cheap, nothing will be better than this because it takes out a potential competitor." Trading was light on Friday, with 445.2 million shares exchanging hands on the main bourse, while winning shares outnumbered decliners 509 to 317. The benchmark KOSPI 200 index fell 0.21 percent while the junior, KOSDAQ gained 1.04 percent. Move on day -0.02 percent 12-month high 2,231.47 27 April 2011 12-month low 1,644.11 26 Sept 2011 Change on yr +10.3 percent All-time high 2,231.47 27 April 2011 All-time low 93.10 6 January 1981 ($1 = 1136.900 Korean won) (Editing by Chris Lewis) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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