South Korean shares rise 2% after Wall Street finds relief from delayed tariffs

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

• South Korean shares rose more than 2% on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

• The benchmark KOSPI stock index was up 48.61 points, or 1.98%, at 2,502.56, as of 01:02 GMT.

• Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 4.51% and peer SK Hynix gained 1.15%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.63%.

• Hyundai Motor added 2.72% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 2.81%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.92% and up 0.72%, respectively.

• US stocks joined a worldwide sell-off on Monday as fears that Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China could ignite a global trade war, but their losses eased after tariffs on Mexican imports were paused.

• Of the total 938 traded issues, 764 shares advanced, while 147 declined.

• Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 112.9 billion won ($77.46 million).

• The won was quoted at 1,458.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.22% higher than its previous close.

• In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,458.7 per dollar, down 0.0% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,456.7.

• The KOSPI has risen 4.30% so far this year, but lost 1.1% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

• The won has gained 0.9% against the dollar so far this year.

• In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.04 point to 106.89.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.4 basis point to 2.579%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.5 bps to 2.847%.