South Korea stocks slip from near all-time high on profit-taking

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares slipped on Monday, as investors booked profits after they surged to near an all-time high earlier in the session on strong US jobs data over the weekend. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark KOSPI fell 4.25 points, or 0.13%, to 3,235.83 as of 0224 GMT, after gaining as much as 0.75% in early trade, just notches below an intraday record high of 3,266.23.

Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics fell 0.61% and peer SK Hynix slid 0.39%, while battery maker LG Chem fell 0.12% and internet giant Naver rose 0.56%.

Foreigners were net sellers of 226.7 billion won ($204.09 million) worth of shares on the main board.

"Foreign investors' inflow is very limited despite strong (US) data it looks like profit-taking as the KOSPI trading level is near its all-time high," said Na Jeong-hwan, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.

The won was quoted at 1,111.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.48% higher than its previous close at 1,116.5.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds inched up 0.03 points to 110.77.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.5 basis points to 1.205%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 2.9 basis points to 2.144%.