South Korean shares post best week for three months on shareholder return pledges
- KOSPI closed up 20.61 points, or 0.83%, at 2,501.24
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares edge slightly higher ahead of Nvidia earnings
-
South Korean shares rose on Friday on pledges by major conglomerates to return more to shareholders and posted their best weekly performance in three months.
-
The benchmark KOSPI closed up 20.61 points, or 0.83%, at 2,501.24.
-
The KOSPI rose 3.5% this week, the biggest since mid-August, after a drop of 5.6% last week.
-
South Korea has been pushing for corporate reforms this year, with the so-called “Corporate Value-up Programme” aimed at boosting the value of listed companies through improvements in shareholder returns.
-
The chairman of the Financial Services Commission has urged participation by big conglomerates.
-
“Samsung’s buyback plan is being followed by other major companies,” said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
-
SK Square rose 8.8% after the holding company of SK Hynix, a maker of artificial intelligence chips, announced a share buyback plan on Thursday. SK Hynix rose 4.7%.
-
Battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 1.1% and battery materials maker LG Chem added 1.2%, while beauty product maker LG Household & Healthcare jumped 3.7%.
-
They also announced measures, including share buyback and cancellation, as well as revenue targets, in regulatory filings submitted on Friday.
-
Chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 0.7%, but gained 4.7% for the week after a surprise buyback unveiled last week.
** South Korea is considering drawing up a supplementary budget early next year to counter slumping consumer spending and slowing economic growth, according to a report.
-
Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 116.9 billion won ($83.40 million), after 10 straight sessions of selling.
-
The won was quoted at 1,401.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, little changed from its previous close at 1,402.0.
-
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.5 basis points to 2.814%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 3.0 basis points to 2.972%.
Comments