South Korean shares rise for third day on chip boost

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares gain over 1% on US-China trade optimism

• South Korean shares rose for a third straight session on Wednesday, as chipmakers tracked overnight gains in their US peers.

• The benchmark KOSPI was up 15.22 points, or 0.58%, at 2,623.64, hitting its highest since March 27, as of 0125 GMT.

• Overnight, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher for a second straight day after softer-than-expected inflation numbers added to investor optimism from Monday when the US and China announced a trade truce.

• Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.62% and peer SK Hynix gained 3.53% after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 3.2% on Tuesday.

• Samsung Electronics said it has agreed to acquire all shares of Germany-based air conditioning and heating systems maker FlaktGroup for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from the European investment firm, Triton.

• Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia fell 0.97% and 1.81%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings slipped 3.11%, while drugmaker Samsung Biologics rose 0.10%.

• Of the total 935 traded issues, 430 advanced and 434 declined.

• Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 142.6 billion won.

• The won was quoted at 1,413.5 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.2% higher than Tuesday’s close of 1,416.3.

• In the money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds were unchanged at 107.50.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell 0.7 basis point to 2.371%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose 1.9 basis points to 2.735%.