S.Korean stocks end flat; won weakest since Sept 2017

Hanjin Logistics

08/04/2019 08:17

* KOSPI index flat, foreigners buy
    * Korean won weakest since Sept. 2017
    * South Korea benchmark bond yields fall
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21Q0LC

    SEOUL, April 8 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  wavered on Monday to end
flat as the Korean won fell to its weakest since September 2017,
capping earlier gains boosted by U.S. job data and China
stimulus. The country's benchmark bond yields dropped.
    
** The currency won closed at 1,144.7 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.71 percent lower than its
previous close at 1,136.6.
    
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI ended nearly unchanged at
2,210.60 points, up 0.99 points or 0.04 percent from the
previous session.
    
** Favourable U.S. job data boosted the dollar, while reports
that Norway's sovereign wealth fund will cut emerging market
bonds including South Korea from the benchmark index it tracks
dented the currency market, said Lee Kyoung-min, analyst,
Daishin Securities.
    
** Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, will
streamline its $300 billion fixed-income portfolio by cutting
emerging market bonds from the benchmark index it tracks, the
Finance Ministry said on Friday. Government and corporate bonds
including $6.3 billion worth bonds issued by South Korea would
be affected.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N21N2T3 
 
** Shares of Korean Air Lines  003490.KS  parent Hanjin Group's
subsidiaries jumped on hopes for a leadership renewal after the
group's Chairman Cho Yang-ho passed away on Monday due to a
chronic illness. Korean Air gained 3.8 percent, while Hanjin Kal
Corp  180640.KS  and Hanjin Transportation Co Ltd  002320.KS 
jumped 17.7 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21Q020
    
** Foreigners were net buyers of 275.4 billion won worth of
shares on the main board.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,144.8 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.7 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,143.8 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.12 percent, after U.S. stocks ended its
previous session with mild gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  fell 0.21 percent.
    
** The KOSPI rose 8.31 percent so far this year, and fell 0.9
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 335.88 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 897, the number of advancing shares was 428 shares.
    
** The won has lost 2.5 percent against the U.S dollar this
year.
    
** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.03 points to 109.55, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.86 percent.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.2
basis points to 1.723 percent, while the benchmark 10-year yield
dropped by 2.5 basis points to 1.867 percent.

 (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))