South Korean stocks rise after soft US inflation data

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares track Wall Street lower, but set for weekly gain

• South Korean shares rose on Thursday after cooler-than-expected US inflation data helped Wall Street to recover from earlier losses. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

• The benchmark KOSPI was up 19.80 points, or 0.77%, at 2,594.62, as of 0058 GMT.

• Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.09% and peer SK Hynix gained 2.06%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 0.86%.

• Hyundai Motor added 0.05% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 1.01%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 1.17% and up 0.28%, respectively.

• Of the total 933 traded issues, 481 shares advanced, while 366 declined.

• Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 49.6 billion won ($34.23 million).

• The won was quoted at 1,450.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.13% higher than its previous close at 1,452.6.

• In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,448.9 per dollar, up 0.1% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,446.6.

• The KOSPI has risen 8.13% so far this year, and gained 1.1% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

• The won has gained 1.5% against the dollar so far this year.

• In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.02 point to 106.77.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.6 basis points to 2.566%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.5 bps to 2.776%.