Steel giant Posco Holdings shot up 3.72 percent to 642,000 won. Top battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 3.32 percent to 560,000 won. In Seoul, battery and steel stocks closed higher. It also marked a drop from May's 3.8 percent, showing a downtrend that indicated the Fed's aggressive interest rate hikes are working to pull inflation down to the 2 percent target range. 'The probability of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike in September came down to 20 percent, easing the tightening pressure,' Choi said.Īll three US major stock indexes finished higher Friday, after the PCE price index, an inflation gauge favored by the Fed, showed it rose 3 percent in June from a year earlier, the smallest rise in more than two years. 'The slower-than-expected in US personal consumption expenditures price index raised hopes for a 'Goldilocks' economy,' Choi Yu-joon, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities Co., said, referring to the term that describes an economy with steady growth without a dramatic contraction or expansion. Trading volume was at 447.5 million shares worth 15.5 trillion won ($12.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 712 to 178. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 24.26 points to 2,632.58. The local currency rose against the US dollar. South Korean stocks closed 0.93 percent higher Monday, after US data signaling cooling inflation fueled investor appetite for risky bets.

An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Monday (Yonhap)

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