South Korean stocks gain for fourth session, won edges up

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korea's KOSPI stock index rose on Tuesday, shrugging off a weak start as foreign investors returned with appetite for risky assets. The Korean won gained while bond yields fell.

The KOSPI ended up 6.00 points or 0.25 percent at 2,453.76.

The won was quoted at 1,070.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.11 percent firmer than its previous close at 1,071.9.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,069.47 per US dollar, down 0.04 percent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,053.1 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.10 percent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains. Japanese stocks rose 0.28 percent.

The KOSPI is down around 0.8 percent so far this year, and down by 1.30 percent in the previous 30 days.  ** The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend yield is 1.28 percent and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04 trillion won.

The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 485,339,000 shares and, of the total traded issues of 885, the number of advancing shares was 401.

Foreigners were net buyers of 22,184 million won worth of shares.

The U.S dollar has risen 0.32 percent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on April 2, 2018 and low is 1,098.4 on Feb. 6, 2018.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.03 points to 107.86.

The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.65 percent compared with a previous close of 1.65 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.201 percent, lower than the previous day's 2.21 percent.