S.Korea shares scale two-year high on recovery, US stimulus hopes
- The benchmark KOSPI closed up 32.29 points, or 1.35pc, at 2,418.67, its highest close since June 14, 2018.
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets: South Korean shares rose for a seventh straight session on Tuesday to a more than two-year high, as strong gains in market heavyweights and hopes for US stimulus helped investors shrug off weak domestic exports data.
The Korean won held steady, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
The benchmark KOSPI closed up 32.29 points, or 1.35pc, at 2,418.67, its highest close since June 14, 2018.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview with CNBC on Monday, said the Trump administration and Congress could reach an agreement as soon as this week if Democrats are "reasonable."
South Korea will take the smallest hit to growth of any advanced economy this year, with a 0.8pc contraction, after it was able to limit the spread of the coronavirus without imposing severe lockdowns, the OECD said on Tuesday.
But worries about global demand persist as data showed on Tuesday that the export-reliant economy's exports contracted 23.6pc from last year in the first 10 days of August, while imports declined 24.3pc.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics climbed 0.7pc, while Hyundai Motor surged as much as 6.2pc to close at its highest since April 2015, extending gains from Monday.
Foreigners were net buyers of 145.8 billion won ($122.97 million) worth of shares on the main board.
The won ended trading at 1,185.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, steady from its previous close at 1,185.6.
In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,185.4 per dollar, unchanged from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,185.2.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.52pc.
In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.04 points to 112.21 in late afternoon trade.
The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.0 basis points to 0.821pc, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.7 basis points to 1.347pc.
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