S.Korean stocks drop on fresh trade war concerns, bleak earnings

Amorepacific

31/07/2019 08:07

* KOSPI index loses 5% for month, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W0NQ

    SEOUL, July 31 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
** South Korean shares ended lower on Wednesday as U.S.
President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions with China,
while Japan's export curbs added to worries over bleak corporate
earnings. The Korean won and the benchmark bond yield fell.
    
** In earlier trade, the benchmark index dropped as low as
2010.95, marking its lowest intraday level since early January.
    
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI index  .KS11  ended down
14.13 points or 0.69% at 2,024.55. For the month, the index fell
almost 5%. 
    
** Some bargain hunting by investors helped recoup part of the
earlier losses, said Na Jeong-hwan, an analyst at DS Investment
& Securities. Sentiment has been dampened broadly, with low
expectations of corporate earnings, he added.
    
** President Trump on Tuesday warned China against waiting out
his first term to finalise any trade deal, saying if he wins the
re-election in the November 2020 U.S. presidential contest, the
outcome will be worse for China.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N24V08O
    
** Shares of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd  005930.KS  fell 2.6%
after it posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit, hit by
declines in semiconductor prices amid oversupply. The global
chip leader said Tokyo's export curbs would blur its outlook.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24R117
    
** Shares of LG Display Co Ltd  034220.KS  closed around record
lows after the flat screen maker said it would issue $687.8
million worth of convertible bonds.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W0BK
    
** Shares of AmorePacific Corp  090430.KS  hit over five-year
lows, after the cosmetics company said its second-quarter
operating profit fell nearly 40% from a year ago.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W1YA

** Shares of South Korean snack makers bucked the trend, as
investors bet sales would grow with local customers staying away
from Japanese products. Confectionery giant CrownHaitai Holdings
Co Ltd  005740.KS  surged.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W18W
    
** Shares of Samsung SDI Co Ltd  006400.KS  gained 5% after the
battery maker posted a solid second-quarter operating profit,
with analysts expecting its battery business to grow.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W11R
         
** Foreigners were net sellers of 49.2 billion won ($41.59
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,183.1 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.13% lower than its previous
close at 1,181.6.
     
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,183.2 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.2% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,182.1 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.67%, after U.S. stocks closed lower.
Japanese stocks  .N225  fell 0.86%.  MKTS/GLOB 
    
** The KOSPI has fallen 0.81% so far this year, but lost 2.9% in
the previous 30 trading sessions.
    
** The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend
yield is 1.28% and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04
trillion won.
    
** The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 577.91 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 893, the number of advancing shares was 465.
    
** The won has lost 5.7% against the U.S dollar so far this
year.
    
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.06 to 110.89 points, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.51%.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.1
basis point to 1.299%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by
0.7 basis point to 1.399%.

 ($1 = 1,182.9600 won)

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters
Messaging: hayoung.choi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))