South Korean stocks gain on US Fed comments

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korea leads Asian shares higher with US CPI data in sight

• South Korean shares rose on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed US interest rates were still on course to be cut this year, though the timing was data dependent.

• The benchmark KOSPI rose 26.42 points, or 0.98%, to 2,733.39 by 02:22 GMT.

• Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.83% and peer SK Hynix gained 4.46%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.27%.

• US Fed officials including Powell on Wednesday continued focusing on the need for more debate and data before interest rates are cut, a move financial markets expect to occur in June.

• Hyundai Motor added 3.24% and its affiliate Kia Corp gained 3.54%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 1.03% and down 2.06%, respectively.

• Of the total 930 traded issues, 416 shares advanced, while 446 declined.

• Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 166.9 billion won on the main board on Thursday.

• The won was quoted at 1,347.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.12% higher than its previous close at 1,348.9.

• In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,347.7 per dollar, down 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,345.8.

• The KOSPI has risen 2.94% so far this year, and gained 1.9% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

• The won has lost 4.4% against the dollar so far this year.

• In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.01 point to 104.72.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.6 basis point to 3.335%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.4 basis point to 3.457%.