S.Korea shares close at record high on chip, auto boost

Daewoong Pharma

03/12/2020 07:57

* KOSPI hits record closing high, foreigners net buyers
    * KRW ends at strongest close since June 2018 vs USD
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IJ03Z

    SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares extended gains on Thursday to close
at a record high, on a boost from chip and auto stocks, while
developments related to coronavirus vaccines and stimulus hopes
also aided sentiment.
    
    ** The won strengthened to its highest since June 2018, and
the benchmark bond yield also rose.
    
    ** The benchmark KOSPI  .KS11  closed 20.32 points, or
0.76%, higher at 2,696.22, marking the third straight session of
gains.
    
    ** The country's financial markets opened an hour later than
usual at 0100 GMT due to a nationwide college entrance exam.
    
    ** Chip giants Samsung Electronics  005930.KS  and SK Hynix
 000660.KS  jumped as much as 1.44% and 5.05%, respectively,
gaining for the third straight day, with both stocks hitting
record highs earlier in the session.
    
    ** Shares of Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  and affiliate Kia
Motors  000270.KS  surged 7.67% and 6.41%, respectively, after
reporting strong November sales.
    
    ** Celltrion  068270.KS  and its affiliates gained on hopes
of conditional approval for the use of its COVID-19 drug,
CT-P59, while Daewoong Pharma  069620.KS  also rose as the
company sought regulatory approval for Phase II trials of its
COVID-19 drug.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2IJ15Z
    
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of 211.8 billion won ($193.51
million) worth of KOSPI shares.
    
    ** Meanwhile, local media reported on Thursday that the
country has reached a deal with AstraZeneca  AZN.L  to purchase
its coronavirus vaccine candidate.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2IJ19H
    
    ** The won ended at 1,097.0 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.35% higher than its previous
close at 1,100.8, the strongest since June 2018.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at
1,094.5, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month
contract  KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,094.4.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.01 point to 111.58.
    
    ** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by
0.1 basis point to 0.981%.

 ($1 = 1,094.5100 won)

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1493))