South Korean shares pare early rise as Mideast conflict weighs

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:  

South Korean shares pared early gains on Tuesday, as investors stayed cautious amid uncertainty over the Middle East conflict.

The benchmark KOSPI added 42.90 points, or 0.79%, to 5,448.65 as of 0143 GMT, after rising as much as 4.39% earlier.

“It is desirable to refrain from responding aggressively because increased volatility will remain for some time due to geopolitical uncertainty,” said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

Tehran on Monday denied engaging in talks with Washington, after US President Donald Trump postponed a threat to bomb Iran’s power grid, citing what he called productive discussions with unnamed Iranian officials.

South Korea will prepare an extra budget by month-end to support sectors hit by high oil prices during the Middle East war, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said. Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.75% and peer SK Hynix gained 1.61%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 6.32%. Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia added 0.72% and lost 3.40%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings advanced 2.31%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics firmed 0.26%.

Of the total 923 traded issues, 554 advanced and 328 declined. Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 624.3 billion won ($416.2 million).

The won was quoted at 1,499.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.82% below Monday’s close of 1,486.7.

In the money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.17 point to 103.43.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell 3.6 basis points to 3.575%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose 0.5 basis point to 3.855%.