South Korea stocks drop as soft US data, virus woes offset upbeat China data

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares slid on Monday, as soft US consumer spending data and worries about rising coronavirus infections globally outweighed upbeat Chinese economic data. Both the won and the benchmark bond yield weakened.

The benchmark KOSPI fell 27.09 points, or 0.88%, to 3,058.81 by 0235 GMT, after tumbling as much as 1.9% in early trade.

Market heavyweights were trading mixed: Samsung Electronics and LG Chem slid 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively, while Celltrion rose 3.2% and Hyundai Motor added 1%.

US retail sales fell for a third straight month in December, data showed on Friday, as renewed measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 triggered job losses.

But worries about rising infections in China's northeast region is fuelling concerns of another national wave ahead of a major holiday season.

"News about an emergency lockdown in China's Hubei province and sluggish US retail sales data soured sentiment ... Today's China data is important as there are rising doubts about economic recovery," said Seo Sang-young, analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Foreigners were net sellers of 196.1 billion won ($177.71 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,103.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.37% lower than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,103.0, unchanged from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,102.3.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.01 points to 111.59.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.4 basis points to 0.970%.