South Korean shares rise to record high on tech boost

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets: South Korean shares rose to a record high on Thursday as trading resumed after three days of holidays, with a tech-led rebound on Wall Street buoying investor sentiment.

The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark KOSPI was up 135.36 points, or 2.46%, at 5,642.37, as of 0203 GMT, rising above the 5,600 mark for the first time.

Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 4.03%, while peer SK Hynix gained 1.48%.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.77%.

Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 0.40% and up 2.32%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 3.99%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 1.93%.

Programme trading was halted for five minutes on the junior Kosdaq index as the Korea Exchange activated sidecar after Kosdaq 150 futures jumped 6%.

Of the total 927 traded issues, 583 shares advanced, while 307 declined.

Global shares rose on Wednesday as investors took a breather following an artificial intelligence-driven selloff. Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 485.6 billion won.

The won was quoted at 1,451.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.48% lower than its previous close at 1,444.6.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,451.7 per dollar, down 0.6% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,450.1.

The KOSPI has risen 33.89% so far this year.

The won has weakened 0.8% against the dollar this year.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.06 point to 105.18.

The most-liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.0 basis point to 3.132%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 3.9 basis points to 3.538%. ‑Reuters