South Korea shares rise on relief from Middle East ceasefire

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares climbed nearly 6% on Wednesday as Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week Middle East ceasefire, sparking a relief rally.

The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark KOSPI was up 327.82 points, or 5.97%, at 5,822.60, as of 0239 GMT.

Among index heavyweights, South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 6.87%, extending gains after flagging an eightfold increase in its quarterly profit.

Peer SK Hynix gained 9.61%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 0.86%.

Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 7.19% and 4.64%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 3.18%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 1.01%. In a separate development, North Korea fired an unidentified projectile towards the sea off the east coast, South Korea’s military said on Wednesday.

Of the total 913 traded issues, 774 shares advanced, while 114 declined.

Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 1,506.5 billion won.

The won was quoted at 1,479.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 1.49% higher than its previous close at 1,501.0.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,477.4 per dollar, up 1.3% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,476.1.

The KOSPI has risen 38.17% so far this year.

The won has weakened 2.7% against the dollar so far this year.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.47 point to 104.46.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell 14.5 basis points to 3.304%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 11.9 basis points to 3.619%.‑Reuters