South Korea shares post biggest jump in 2 wks as inflation worries, bond yields ease

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares snapped a five-session losing streak posted on Thursday, posting their biggest single-day jump in two weeks, as subdued US consumer price data calmed inflation worries. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

** The KOSPI closed up 55.58 points, or 1.88%, to 3,013.70, posting its sharpest intraday percentage gain since Feb. 25. It gained as much as 2.37% in early trade.

** "Investors took a relief from the US consumer prices data that inflationary pressure will be weaker than expected, which pulled down the bond yields but boosting Asian shares," said Seo Jung-hun, an analyst at Samsung Securities.

** US consumer prices increased solidly in February, with households paying more for gasoline, but underlying inflation remained tepid.

** Further boosting the sentiment was South Korea's preliminary exports data, which jumped 25.2% from a year earlier during Mar. 1-10 period.

** Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.36% and peer SK Hynix jumped 3.01%, while battery makers LG Chem and Samsung SDI added 5.39% and 8.02%, respectively.

** Foreigners were net buyers of 1,703.0 billion won ($1.50 billion) worth of shares on the main board.

** The won ended at 1,135.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.60% higher than its previous close at 1,142.7.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,135.5 per dollar, up 0.0% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,135.6. ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.07 points to 111.16.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.0 basis points to 1.173%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.4 basis points to 2.023%.