South Korean shares rise as chipmakers gain ahead of Fed outcome
- The benchmark KOSPI was up 28.92 points, or 0.44%, at 6,656.18
SEOUL: A roundup of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares rose on Wednesday, lifted by chipmakers after a recent selloff, while investors remained cautious as elevated bond yields and the prospect of a US rate hike weighed on broader risk sentiment.
The benchmark KOSPI was up 28.92 points, or 0.44%, at 6,656.18 as of 0257 GMT, after four consecutive sessions of losses.
The US Federal Reserve will raise its interest rate on Wednesday and deliver at least one more hike by the end of March, according to a majority of economists polled by Reuters, reversing a fragile no-change consensus that prevailed before official data on Friday showed firm inflation.
Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.01%, while peer SK Hynix gained 1.72%.
Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.96%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 1.63% and 0.49%, respectively.
Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 1.51%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 0.78%.
Of the 914 total traded issues, 254 advanced, while 608 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 1.1 trillion won ($804.80 million).
The won was quoted at 1,368.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.28% lower than its previous close at 1,364.6. In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.15 point to 102.11.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.5 basis points to 4.075% and the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 3.3 basis points to 4.555% amid investor views that recent sharp increases to multi-year highes were excessive.