S.Korea stocks drop on recession fears, global political woes

E-Mart

13/08/2019 02:59

* KOSPI index falls, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield drops

    SEOUL, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korean shares slipped on Tuesday on heightened
recession worries as U.S. yield curve flattened significantly,
amid persisting trade worries and global political tensions. The
Korean won and the benchmark bond yield also declined, as
investors flocked to safe haven assets. 
    
** The yield spread between U.S. 2-year and 10-year notes, a
closely watched metric, narrowed to 5.3 basis points, the
smallest difference since at least 2010, according to Refinitiv
data.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2580R8
    
** As of 0156 GMT, the Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11 
fell 16.60 points, or 0.85% to 1,925.69.
    
** Foreigners were net sellers of 78.5 billion won ($64.43
million) worth of shares on the main board, extending their
successive net selling into a 10th session. It would be the
longest selling spree since January 2016, if they post net
selling until the market closing. 
    
** Shares of E-Mart  139480.KS  surged after the retailer
announced plan to sell its assets and buy back shares.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25904S
        
** The won was quoted at 1,218.5 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.19% lower than its previous
close at 1,216.2.
     
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,218.3 per
U.S. dollar, unchanged from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,217.1 per dollar.
     
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.57%, after U.S. stocks stumbled
 MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks  .N225  fell 1.15%.
     
** The KOSPI has fallen 5.40% so far this year, and lost 8.8% 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 in the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 277.70 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 892, the number of advancing shares was 302.
     
** The won has lost 8.4% against the U.S dollar so far this
year.
     
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.08 points to 111.29, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.49%.
     
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.0
basis points to 1.163%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell
by 3.6 basis points to 1.250%.
    
($1 = 1,218.4000 won)    

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643;))