South Korean stocks gain as Fed unveils tapering as expected

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve announced stimulus tapering as expected and said it would stay patient and wait for more job growth before raising interest rates. The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

** The benchmark KOSPI rose 7.51 points, or 0.25%, to 2,983.22, as of 0632 GMT.

** Among heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.28% and peer SK Hynix gained 0.47%. LG Chem rose 0.77% and Naver advanced 2.24%.

** Somewhat dovish stance by the Federal Open Market Committee lifted Asian markets but buying sentiment wasn't that strong in the afternoon, said Seo Jung-hun, an analyst at Samsung Securities.

** Foreigners were net buyers of 326.3 billion won worth of shares on the main board.

** The won was quoted at 1,182.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.08% lower than its previous close at 1,181.6.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,183.1 per dollar, down 0.4% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,184.0.

** The KOSPI has risen 3.82% so far this year, but lost 5.6% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 759.28 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 928, the number of advancing shares was 295.

** The won has lost 8.1% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.06 point to 108.21.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.6 basis point to 2.042%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 4.5 basis points to 2.425%.