S.Korean stocks end weaker as China data disappoints; won falls
01/02/2019 07:18
* KOSPI index edges down, foreigners buy
* Korean won slides versus U.S. dollar
* South Korea bond yields down
* For the midday report, please click urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZW09E
SEOUL, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
South Korea's KOSPI stock index .KS11 shed early gains to end
lower on Friday as factory activity shrank across Asia, while
lacklustre China data offset optimism over trade deal between
Beijing and Washington. The Korean won and bond yields dropped.
** U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese
President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade
deal as the top U.S. negotiator reported "substantial progress"
in the talks, sending the South Korean shares up earlier in the
session. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1ZV0I5
** Factory activity shrank across much of Asia in January,
falling to the weakest in years in several countries and adding
to worries that trade tariffs and cooling demand in China pose
an increasing threat to global growth. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1ZV8YY
** China's factory activity shrank the most in almost three
years in January as new orders slumped further and output fell,
the private Caixin/Markit PMI survey showed. The numbers were
weaker than Thursday's official PMI survey, but both suggested
the economy is continuing to slow in the new year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS7N1OY027
** South Korean factories also got off to a grim start in 2019
as activity in January contracted at the joint-fastest pace in
over two years, a private survey showed on Friday, with new
export orders continuing to shrink in yet another blow to the
trade-reliant economy. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS7N1DB00U
** South Korea's exports shrank for a second straight month in
January as faltering demand in China hit prices of memory chips
and petrochemical products, adding further stress on the economy
from slowing global growth and the U.S.-Sino trade dispute.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZU2GH
** At 0630 GMT, the KOSPI closed down 1.39 points or 0.06
percent at 2,203.46. For the week, the benchmark index rose 1.2
percent, extending its rally to a fourth week, the longest
successive weekly gains in 15 months.
** South Korean financial markets are closed from Monday through
Wednesday for Lunar New Year's Day holiday. Markets will resume
trade at normal hours on Thursday, Feb. 7.
** South Korea's shipbuilders dropped after Hyundai Heavy
Industries Co Ltd 009540.KS announced a share swap deal worth
2.1 trillion won ($1.89 billion) to take over second-ranked
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd 042660.KS and
create a global heavyweight controlling over 20 percent of the
market. Daewoo Shipbuilding closed down 8.7 percent, while
Hyundai Heavy fell 7.6 percent. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZW03L
** Shares of South Korean firms exposed to North Korea jumped on
U.S. special envoy's remarks that North Korean leader committed
to the dismantlement and destruction of nuclear facilities. Daea
TI Co Ltd 045390.KQ and Ilshin Stone 007110.KS Co Ltd ended
up 17.4 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZW1R0
** The won was quoted at 1,118.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform KRW=KFTC , 0.55 percent weaker than its
previous close at 1,112.7. The currency inched up 0.2 percent on
the week, rising for a second consecutive week.
** In offshore trading, the won KRW= was quoted at 1,118.6 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.65 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forwards KRW1YNDFOR= it was being
asked at 1,102.95 per dollar.
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.16 percent, after U.S. stocks ended
the previous session with gains MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
.N225 rose 0.07 percent.
** The KOSPI jumped about 8 percent so far this year, and up by
6.46 percent in the previous 30 trading sessions.
** 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 471.73 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 896, the number of advancing shares was 440.
** Foreigners were net buyers of 261.70 billion won worth of
shares on the main board.
** The U.S dollar rose 0.48 percent against the won this year.
The won's high for the year is 1,108.67 per dollar on Jan. 31,
2019 and low is 1,133.4 on Jan. 21, 2019.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds KTBc1 rose 0.02 points to 109.29.
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at
1.86 percent, while the most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond
yielded 1.801 percent, lower than 1.810 percent last quoted on
the previous session.
(Reporting by Joori Roh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5642; Reuters
Messaging: joori.roh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))