S.Korean stocks hit 2-mo low on U.S. political uncertainties; won flat

Doosan Enerbility Co

26/12/2018 06:56

* KOSPI index dips, foreigners buy
    * Korean won flat vs USD
    * South Korea bond yields down
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YV0XV

    SEOUL, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
    ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  slumped on
Wednesday over persisting political uncertainties in the United
States as the market reopened after the Christmas holiday. The
Korean won was flat while bond yields fell.
    
    ** U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the partial
shutdown of the federal government was going to last until his
demand for funds to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is
met.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1YU063
    
    ** Trump on Tuesday expressed confidence in Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin amid worries over a weakening economy
and a stock market slump, but repeated his criticism of the U.S.
Federal Reserve, saying it has raised interest rates too
quickly.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1YU07P
    
    ** Investors also were grappling with the federal government
shutdown and reports that President Donald Trump privately
discussed the possibility of firing the Fed chairman.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1YT0LU
    
    ** At 06:32 GMT, the KOSPI closed down 27 points or 1.31
percent at 2,028.01, hitting a near two-month low.
    
    ** Shares of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction
 034020.KS  ended 9.9 percent lower as the company's nuclear
power plant business is hit by the government's nuclear
phase-out policy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YV1OY
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,125.4 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.02 percent weaker from its
previous close at 1,125.2.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,125.5
per U.S. dollar, down 0.12 percent from the previous day, while
in one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was being
asked at 1,107.15 per dollar.
    
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.34 percent, after U.S. stocks
ended the previous session with sharp losses  MKTS/GLOB .
Japanese stocks  .N225  rose 0.89 percent.
    
    ** The KOSPI is down around 16.7 percent so far this year,
and down by 1.22 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 314,188,000 shares and, of the total 896 traded
issues, the number of advancing shares was 128.
    
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of 56,729 million won worth of
shares.
    
    ** The U.S dollar has risen 5.54 percent against the won
this year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on
April 2 and the low is 1,146.26 on Oct. 11.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.1 point to 109.25.
    
    ** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate
was quoted at 1.9 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 1.807 percent, lower than the previous
day's 1.85 percent.

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