HD Korea Shipbuilding Shares Bounce Back After Selloff

By Kwanwoo Jun

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering's shares made a strong recovery on Tuesday after sliding the prior session, as market jitters about a U.S. recession eased.

Shares of the South Korean shipbuilder climbed 10% to close at 190,300 won ($139.09) on Tuesday, paring much of their 15% fall on Monday. HD Korea Shipbuilding led a rebound among local shipbuilders, with its affiliate HD Hyundai Heavy Industries also finishing 10% higher. Local rivals Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean advanced 6.6% and 8.7%, respectively.

The benchmark Kospi ended 3.3% higher as traders hunted for bargains, bouncing back from the previous session's 8.8% decline--the sharpest one-day drop in 16 years.

"It was assessed that Asian stock markets, including South Korea, overreacted," Seoul's finance ministry said in a statement after Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok presided over a macroeconomic policy meeting with the central bank governor, top financial market regulators and a senior presidential advisor for economic policy.

Market participants were urged to "make calm and rational decisions while taking note of excessive anxiety" spreading across the market, it said.

As bargain hunting kicked in Tuesday following Monday's rout, traders piled in shipbuilding and semiconductor stocks, which had suffered heavy losses.

South Korean shipbuilders' comeback rally was also driven partly by a media report saying that they were in talks with Qatar for a multi-billion-dollar deal.

The Korea Economic Daily said that local shipbuilders are negotiating an estimated $3.3 billion contract to build 10 liquefied natural gas carriers for stat-owned QatarEnergy.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 06, 2024 03:50 ET (07:50 GMT)

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