South Korean shares post best week for three months on shareholder return pledges

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%.