South Korea shares at record high, set to log second weekly gain

DAISHIN SECURITIES CO

20/02/2026 02:46

KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers

Korean won weakens against dollar

South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

SEOUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean equity benchmark rose to a record on Friday after brokerages rallied on the record-breaking performance of the local stock market that doubled in value in the past year. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was up 72.98 points, or 1.29%, at 5,750.23 as of 0216 GMT. For the week, the index is up 4.40%, after rising more than 8% last week.

** It has risen 36.45% so far this year.

** Shares of Daishin Securities 003540.KS, Samsung Securities 016360.KS gained 7% and 4.30% respectively, while Mirae Asset Securities 006800.KS is up 3.40%.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS fell 0.37%, while peer SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 3.02%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS slid 0.62%.

** Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS were down 1.07% and 0.29%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS added 0.64%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940.KS rose 0.64%.

** Of the total 924 traded issues, 505 shares advanced, while 377 declined.

** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 681.5 billion won.

** The won KRW= was quoted at 1,449.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.03% lower than its previous close at 1,448.9.

** The currency has weakened 0.7% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 gained 0.13 basis point to 105.15.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 2.4 bps to 3.151%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 4.1 bps to 3.544%.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

((Cynthia.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5655; Reuters Messaging: cynthia.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))