South Korea shares drop on oil, bond rout concerns
- The benchmark KOSPI was down 189.90 points, or 2.78%, at 6,844.02
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares fell on Friday amid a sell-off in US treasuries while the inflation data there reinforced bets on an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
The benchmark KOSPI was down 189.90 points, or 2.78%, at 6,844.02 as of 03:25 GMT.
Chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 4.46%, while peer SK Hynix lost 4.21%.
Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 3.42%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 2.70% and down 1.02%, respectively.
Oil prices jumped more than 6% on Thursday, with both major benchmarks trading above $100 a barrel, as the biggest spike in attacks on shipping since the Iran war began fed worries among traders about further disruptions to already tight supplies.
The South Korean government is preparing to announce a major energy investment project in the United States worth more than $100 billion aimed at boosting artificial intelligence build-out, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 2.06%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 1.41%. Of the total 912 traded issues, 342 shares advanced, while 508 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 1,661.1 billion won ($1.23 billion).
The won was quoted at 1,345.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.30% higher than its previous close at 1,349.5. The KOSPI has risen 62.40% so far this year.
The won has strengthened 7.0% against the dollar so far this year.
In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.30 point to 102.65.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 9.3 basis points to 4.025%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 9.9 bps to 4.554%.
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