South Korean shares flat; traders focus on US tariffs

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

• South Korean shares were little changed on Monday, as investors took a wait-and-see stance amid uncertainty over US tariffs.

• The benchmark KOSPI was up 2.73 points, or 0.07%, at 3,057.01, as of 0154 GMT.

• South Korea’s presidential security adviser headed to Washington on Sunday for trade and defence talks as Seoul discussed an extension of the freeze on US tariffs that is set to expire within days.

• “Market sensitivity to tariffs, which has been low for some time, will be re-elevated near the deadline,” said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

• Samsung Electronics fell 1.18% ahead of its second-quarter earnings release on Tuesday. The chipmaker is expected to forecast a plunge in operating profit, weighed down by delays in supplying advanced memory chips to artificial intelligence chip leader Nvidia.

• Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 3.70% on an estimated 152% rise in its quarterly operating profit.

• Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 0.95% and up 0.61%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings was flat, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 0.67%.

• Of the total 935 traded issues, 393 shares advanced, while 483 declined.

• Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 106.2 billion won ($77.63 million).

• The won was quoted at 1,365.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.19% lower than its previous close at 1,362.5.

• In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.04 point to 107.16.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.7 basis points to 2.465%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.5 basis points to 2.832%.