A screen in Hana Bank’s trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2410.60 points on Monday, up 16.01 points, or 0.67 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

 
Stocks closed higher to end their three-day losing streak Monday as investors pay keen attention to the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse amid hope for a slower-than-expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve. The local currency sharply rose against the U.S. dollar.
 
The benchmark Kospi added 16.01 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,410.6 points.
 
Trading volume was moderate at about 371 million shares worth some 7.4 trillion won ($5.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 652 to 255.
 
The market got off to a lackluster start after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.07 percent Friday and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite declined 1.76 percent as the SVB failure roiled the market.
 
Last week, the U.S.’ SVB collapsed in the wake of the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes, affecting other lenders and the financial market.
 
The U.S.’ financial authorities and the Fed are shoring up programs to protect bank customers and prevent damage to the overall financial system.
 
The Korean regulator and the Bank of Korea said the SVB fiasco is unlikely to cause major harm to the local market while vowing to closely monitor the case.
 
“With a fast response from the [U.S.] government and the Fed, the SVB fallout is not likely to spread in the short-term,” Daeshin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said. “But the case may levy psychological pressure on promising firms with heavy debt or a weak financial system,” he added.
 
Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.
 
Samsung Electronics grew 0.84 percent to 60,000, and SK hynix rose 1.2 percent to 84,300 won.
 
LG Energy Solutions gained 2.18 percent to 563,000 won, and LG Chem swelled 1.56 percent to 718,000 won.
 
Hyundai Motor added 0.57 percent to 176,000 won, and Naver advanced 1.35 percent to 202,500 won.
 
The local currency closed at 1,301.8 won against the dollar, down 22.4 won from the previous session’s close.
 
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds shed 26.7 basis points to 3.432 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dropped 20.6 basis points to 3.704 percent.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]