South Korean shares set to post worst month since Jan on US tariff worries

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korea treasury yields hit 32-month lows on surprise rate cut

• South Korean shares fell more than 2% on Friday and were set to end the month with their biggest drop since January on US tariff worries.

• The benchmark KOSPI dropped 50.90 points, or 2.03%, to 2,453.77, as of 0109 GMT.

• The KOSPI has fallen 4% this month, extending declines to a fifth straight month.

• Major exporters, including chipmakers, battery makers and automakers fell.

• “Yesterday’s surprise rate cut raised worries that the economy was faring worse than expected and needed a pre-emptive cut,” said Na Jeong-hwan, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

• The Bank of Korea delivered a surprise interest rate cut on Thursday and signalled more to come, as policymakers turned a wary eye to trade risks from a second Donald Trump US presidency.

• South Korea’s export growth is expected to have slowed to a 14-month low in November on slowing demand in the United States amid tariff policy uncertainty, according to a Reuters poll. The data will be reported on Sunday.

• K-pop agency HYBE fell as much as 7% as members of NewJeans, one of the most popular K-pop groups, said they were leaving the agency.

• Korean Air Lines was down 1.2%, after falling as much 6.9% earlier in the session. Analysts attributed the fall to profit-taking on the news of the final approval in Europe on its merger with competitor Asiana.

• Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 364.9 billion won ($261.64 million).

• The won was quoted at 1,395.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.09% lower than its previous close at 1,394.5.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.5 basis point to 2.630%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.4 basis points to 2.777%.