South Korean shares gained on Wednesday, as investor appetite for riskier assets improved amid expectations of headway in the Sino-U.S. trade dispute. The Korean won and the benchmark bond yield strengthened.
** As of 0250 GMT, the Seoul stock market's main KOSPI was up 14.26 points, or 0.70%, at 2,046.57, heading for a sixth consecutive session of gains.
** As the United States and China step into negotiations, better risk appetite has lifted the markets, said Noh Dong-kil, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
** China is expected to buy more agricultural products in hope for a better trade deal with the United States, South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, citing a source.
** Shares of Jin Air, a budget affiliate of Korean Air Lines, surged after the company requested sanctions to be lifted, raising hopes that restrictions on the company would be removed.
** Foreigners were net sellers of 39.9 billion won ($33.46 million) worth of shares on the main board.
** The won was quoted at 1,192.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.07% higher than its previous close at 1,193.3.
** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,191.7 per U.S. dollar, unchanged from the previous session, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,190.7 per dollar.
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.08%, after U.S. stocks ended steady. Japanese stocks rose 0.59%.
** The KOSPI rose 0.07% so far this year, but gained 0.1% in the previous 30 trading sessions.
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 187.94 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 891, the number of advancing shares was 580.
** The won lost 6.4% against the U.S. dollar so far this year.
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.04 points to 110.85.
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.9 basis points to 1.256%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.3 basis points to 1.389%.