South Korean shares rise on upbeat G2 data

South Korean shares rallied on Wednesday as upbeat manufacturing data in the United States and China, called Group of Two (G2), fueled optimism for global economy.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 16.28 points, or 0.81 percent, to close at 2,015.28. Trading volume stood at 311.43 million shares worth 3.71 trillion won (3.68 billion U.S. dollars).
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said the U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in June for 13 straight months, with the purchasing managers' index (PMI) at 55.3, just 0.1 lower than the five-month high of 55.4 in May.
A day earlier, China's official data showed the manufacturing PMI rose to 51 last month, the six-month high. The upbeat data from the world's top two economies boosted optimism about the global economy.
U.S. stocks posted a new fresh record high overnight, bolstering sentiment among investors in the local stock market further.
Foreign investors were net buyers both in the spot and futures markets. Foreigners purchased a net 310.1 billion won worth of local stocks, while buying some 9,000 contracts of the KOSPI200 index futures.
Institutional and retail investors sold stocks worth 50.7 billion won and 244.7 billion won respectively.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rebounded 1.5 percent on views among some investors that worries about the second-quarter earnings of the world's No.1 smartphone maker were already priced in.
Memory chip giant SK Hynix jumped 4 percent on optimism over the chip industry, and the world's biggest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries rose 2.5 percent. The nation's No.2 carmaker Kia Motors inched down amid the continued ascent of the local currency to the dollar.
The South Korean currency finished at 1,009.2 won against the greenback, up 2.5 won from Tuesday's close.
Bond prices ended higher. The yield on the liquid three-year treasury notes dropped 0.070 percentage point to 2.594 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds lost 0. 054 percentage point to 3.114 percent.