South Korean shares extend gains for sixth session as China stocks shine
- The benchmark KOSPI was up 14.10 points, or 0.54%, at 2,624.52
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
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South Korean shares extended gains for a sixth straight session on Tuesday as shares in China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, rose on expectations that a meeting between President Xi Jinping and head of big companies will boost shares of those companies.
The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
The benchmark KOSPI was up 14.10 points, or 0.54%, at 2,624.52 as of 0422 GMT.
Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 2.14% and peer SK Hynix lost 0.94%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 1.27%.
Hyundai Motor added 0.35% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 0.11%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.23% and up 0.26%, respectively.
China revealed support for private sector, with the Hang Seng Index rising 2.05%.
Of the total 939 traded issues in South Korea, 421 shares advanced, while 460 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 149.7 billion won ($103.69 million) on the main board on Tuesday.
The won was quoted at 1,443.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.09% lower than its previous close at 1,442.0.
In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,443.5 per dollar, down 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,441.1.
The KOSPI has risen 9.38% so far this year, and gained 8.6% in the previous 30 trading sessions.
The won has gained 2% against the dollar so far this year.
In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.04 point to 106.61.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1 basis point to 2.635%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.4 basis points to 2.872%.