South Korean stocks end at record high, post sixth straight weekly gain

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares closed at a record high on Friday and posted a sixth straight weekly gain, as they tracked Wall Street's gains on upbeat jobs data and US infrastructure deal. The won strengthened and the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The KOSPI closed up 16.74 points, or 0.51%, at 3,302.84, extending gains to a fourth straight session.

** The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 indexes closed at record highs on Thursday, after US President Joe Biden embraced a bipartisan Senate infrastructure deal that is expected to extend the recovery in the world's largest economy.

** For the week, it gained 1.07%, the sharpest in three weeks and following a 0.57% gain a week earlier.

** Among heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose 0.19% and 1.98%, respectively, while battery maker LG Chem added 0.84%.

** Foreigners were net buyers of 245.7 billion won ($217.95 million) worth of shares on the main board.

** The won ended at 1,127.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.64% higher than its previous close at 1,134.9.

** It rose 0.41% for the week, rebounding from a 1.90% decline in the previous week.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,127.8 per dollar, up 0.3% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,127.8.

** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.16 points to 109.98.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.4 basis points to 1.428%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 4.9 basis points to 2.106%.