S.Korean stocks close steady as investors watch progress in trade talks

Hi Steel Co

07/02/2019 06:59

* KOSPI index flat, foreigners buy for 8th straight session
    * Korean won falls versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea bond yields steady
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20203P

    SEOUL, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  ended flat on
Thursday as investors awaited the outcome of Sino-U.S. trade
talks and the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump
and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The Korean won fell while
bond yields were steady.
 
** The KOSPI closed down 0.04 points at 2,203.42.
** U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that
he and other U.S. officials will travel to Beijing next week for
trade talks, aiming to clinch a deal to avert a March 2 increase
in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2010J1
** Shares of South Korean firms with exposure to North Korea
jumped after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed summit
schedule with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Ilshin Stone
 007110.KS  soared 24.8 percent, while Hi Steel  071090.KS  rose
5 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20202I
 
** Foreigners were net buyers of 169.36 billion won worth of
shares on the main board. They were net buyers for an eighth
consecutive session. 
** The won was quoted at 1,124.1 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.47 percent weaker than its
previous close at 1,118.8. 
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,123.9 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.3 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRW1YNDFOR=  it was being
transacted at 1,108.15 per dollar. 
 
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.09 percent, after U.S. stocks ended the
previous session with mild losses  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  weakened 0.59 percent. 
 
** The KOSPI is up around 8.0 percent so far this year, and up
by 6.85 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 421.84 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 898, the number of advancing shares was 486.
 
** The U.S dollar has risen 0.95 percent against the won this
year. The won's high for the year is 1,108.67 per dollar on Jan.
31 and low is 1,133.4 on Jan. 21.
 
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.01 points to 109.28.

** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at
1.86 percent, while the most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond
yielded 1.804 percent, barely changed from 1.804 percent in the
previous session.

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters
Messaging: hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com))