South Korean stocks end little changed as investors eye trade talks

• Chinese officials signalled that they were increasingly reluctant to agree to a broad trade deal pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported.
• South Korean stocks exposed to North Korea slumped after working-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang were broken off on Saturday.

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:South Korean shares closed flat on Monday as investors stayed away from making big bets ahead of Sino-U.S. trade talks following a report that China was reluctant to agree to broad trade deal with the United States. The Korean won was little changed, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

This week, the main focus will be on high-level U.S.-China trade negotiations slated to happen in Washington on Oct. 10-11 to see if the two sides can end a year-long trade war that has hurt global growth and raised the risk of recession.

Chinese officials signalled that they were increasingly reluctant to agree to a broad trade deal pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics is likely to flag a 60pc decline in July-September operating profit to 7 trillion won ($5.8 billion) on Tuesday.

Markets would remain cautious this week ahead of trade negotiations, said Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at IBK Securities. Investors would shrug off Samsung's earnings guidance unless it considerably exceeds expectations, she added.

South Korean stocks exposed to North Korea slumped after working-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang were broken off on Saturday, weighing on the broader markets.

The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI ended up 1.04 points, or 0.05pc, at 2,021.73.

Foreigners were net sellers of 21.6 billion won ($18.05 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,196.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.02pc higher than its previous close at 1,196.8.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,196.3 per U.S. dollar, down 0.4pc from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract  was quoted at 1,195.5 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan  was up 0.18pc, after U.S. stocks jumped . Japanese stocks fell 0.16pc.

The KOSPI has fallen 0.95pc so far this year, but gained 3.1pc in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index  was 317.31 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 887, the number of advancing shares was 287.

The won has lost 6.8pc against the dollar so far this year.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.03 points to 111.06, while the 3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.55pc.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.3 basis points to 1.233pc, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.2 basis points to 1.385pc.