South Korean shares slip in muted trading; set for fourth weekly gain

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares slipped on Friday in muted trading due to a U.S. holiday but they were set for a fourth weekly gain, helped by hopes of the Federal Reserve ending its monetary tightening soon and easing fears over the Middle East conflict.

The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark KOSPI fell 8.33 points, or 0.33%, to 2,506.63 by 02:25 GMT. For the week, the index gained 1.5%.

Index heavyweights chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 0.14% and peer SK Hynix lost 0.85%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 0.45%.

Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will start a four-day truce on Friday morning, with a first group of 13 Israeli women and child hostages released later that day, mediators in Qatar said.

Hyundai Motor shed 0.11% and sister automaker Kia Corp lost 0.47%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were unchanged and down 0.20%, respectively.

Of the total 938 traded issues, 434 shares advanced, while 430 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 40.8 billion won on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,301.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.28% lower than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,302.5 per dollar, down 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,299.8.

The KOSPI has risen 12.08% so far this year, but gained 1.4% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The won has lost 2.8% against the dollar so far this year.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 3.1 basis points to 3.676%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 7.0 basis points to 3.782%.