S.Korean stocks fall most in 2 mths as U.S. Treasury yields soar; won falls nearly 1 pct

AmorePacific Holdings

04/10/2018 08:35

* KOSPI index falls, foreigners sell
    * Korean won tumbles versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea bond yields up
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK0D3

    SEOUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  closed lower on
Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields hit multi-year highs after
strong U.S. jobs data. The Korean won shed around 1 percent
against U.S. dollar to its weakest in more than two weeks after
bullish remarks on U.S. interest rates from the Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday. South Korean bond yields
rose after central bank chief highlighted financial imbalance.
    
    ** Dollar strengthened against major currencies  .DXY ;
Federal Reserve may raise interest rates above an estimated
"neutral" setting as the "remarkably positive" U.S. economy
continues to grow, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nN9N1LO00F

    ** South Korean central bank chief Lee Ju-yeol said policies
need to ease financial imbalances, highlighting household debt.
The country's three-year treasury bond KTBc1 futures closed down
0.15 points, while yield of three-year treasury bond  KR3YT=RR 
hovered about two-month high.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N1T001C    
    ** South Korean finance minister Kim Dong-yeon said he
doesn't see South Korea earning the currency manipulator label
by U.S. Treasury in the next currency report.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N1W6053
     
** At 06:32 GMT, the KOSPI was down 35.08 points or 1.52 percent
at 2,274.49, hurt by U.S. Treasury yields hitting multi-year
highs and escalating China-U.S. trade tensions.
    
    ** South Korean chemical shares dropped on soaring oil
prices, with LG Chem  051910.KS  and Lotte Chemical  011170.KS 
ending more than 6 percent lower.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK0BF

    ** South Korea's steelmakers tumbled on escalating
U.S.-China trade tensions after a report said that China totally
stopped U.S. crude oil shipments. The country's top steelmaker
Posco  005490.KS  led the sector's loss by 6.6 percent.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK0OB
    
    ** Shares of Hyundai Motor Group tumbled as auto sales are
expected to weaken further in China and the United States.
Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  ended 3.1 percent down, while Hyundai
Mobis  012330.KS  and Kia Motors  000270.KS  fell 3.9 percent
and 3.0 percent, respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK0O1

    ** South Korean cosmetic firms including Amorepacific Group
 002790.KS  and Cosmax  192820.KS  plunged 14.6 percent and 7.7
percent each on weak sentiment about Chinese buyers. Firms
engaged in duty free business also closed down; Shinsegae Inc
 004170.KS , down 12.7 percent, led the fall.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WK0FD
 
** The won was quoted at 1,129.9 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.95 percent weaker than its
previous close at 1,119.2, marking its biggest daily loss since
Sep 17.
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,129.67
per U.S. dollar, down 0.46 percent from the previous day, while
in one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was being
asked at 1,112.95 per dollar. 
 
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 1.69 percent, after U.S. stocks ended
the previous session with mild gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese
stocks  .N225  weakened 0.56 percent. 
 
** The KOSPI is down around 6.4 percent so far this year, and
down by 3.07 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
 .KS11  was 304,576,000 shares, and of the total traded issues
of 898, the number of advancing shares was 256.
 
** Foreigners were net sellers of 525,818 million won worth of
shares.
 
** The U.S dollar has risen 5.94 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 1,140.4 on July 19 2018.
 
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.18 points to 108.17.
 
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was
quoted at 1.65 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 2.071 percent, higher than the previous
day's 2.01 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Vyas Mohan)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com;))