S.Korean stocks rise on Hyundai Motor group's gains, Sino-U.S. trade hopes

AmorePacific Holdings

12/12/2018 07:02

* KOSPI index jumps, foreigners sell
    * Korean won inches up against dollar
    * South Korea bond yields up
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YH1GL

    SEOUL, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  closed higher on
Wednesday buoyed by the gains in shares of the country's biggest
carmaker Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliates, amid fresh hopes
of a U.S.-China trade war truce. Both the Korean won and bond
yields also rose.
    
    ** Hyundai Motor Co  005380.KS  appointed President Albert
Biermann as its first foreign head of research and development
(R&D) as part of a sweeping reshuffle which helped send the
South Korean automaker's shares surging up to nearly 9 percent
on Wednesday.
    
    ** In an interview with Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump
said on Tuesday he would intervene in the Justice Department's
case against a top executive at China's Huawei Technologies if
it would serve national security interests or help close a trade
deal with China.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1YG2JR
    
    ** Trump also said that China was buying a "tremendous
amount" of U.S. soybeans and that trade talks with Beijing were
already underway by telephone, with more meetings likely among
U.S. and Chinese officials.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1YG2JE
    
    ** At 06:33 GMT, the KOSPI closed up 29.60 points or 1.44
percent at 2,082.57.
    
    ** Hyundai Motor Group shares jumped after appointment of a
new R&D chief. Shares of Hyundai Motor Co ended 6.3 percent
higher, while its auto parts affiliates Hyundai Mobis
 012330.KS  and Hyundai Wia  011210.KS  closed up 9.0 percent
and 8.0 percent, respectively. The company's logistics arm
Hyundai Glovis  086280.KS  also gained 9.6 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YH083
    
    ** Hydrogen-powered car parts companies surged as Hyundai
Motor Co and its suppliers plan to invest $6.8 billion in
research and development and to expand facilities related to
fuel cell systems. Iljin Diamond Co Ltd  081000.KS  and Neuros
Co Ltd  126870.KQ  jumped 19.0 percent and 10.9 percent,
respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YH15I
    
    ** South Korean cosmetic brands popular among Chinese
customers jumped after U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh
upbeat comment on a trade deal with China. Shares of
Amorepacific Corp  090430.KS  and Amorepacific Group  002790.KS 
closed up 8.0 percent and 5.4 percent each, while other firms
such as Cosmax Inc  192820.KS  rose 4.7 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YH1J8
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,128.5 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.14 percent firmer than its
previous close at 1,130.1.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at
1,128.25 per U.S. dollar, up 0.02 percent from the previous day,
while in one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was
being transacted at 1,109.15 per dollar.
    
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 1.31 percent, after U.S. stocks
ended the previous session with losses  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese
stocks  .N225  rose 2.15 percent.
    
    ** The KOSPI is down around 16.8 percent so far this year,
and down by 1.90 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 439,402,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 897, the number of advancing shares was 652.
    
    ** Foreigners were net sellers of 48,371 million won worth
of shares.
    
    ** The U.S dollar has risen 5.8 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 1,146.26 on Oct. 11.
 
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.05 points to 109.17.
    
    ** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate
was quoted at 1.9 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 1.802 percent, higher than the previous
day's 1.79 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5642; Reuters
Messaging: joori.roh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))