S.Korean stocks rise to 2-month high on trade optimism

HL Mando

24/09/2019 08:01

* KOSPI climbs for 13th session, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26F06X

    SEOUL, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
** South Korean shares rose to a two-month closing high on
Tuesday as a report about China's new tariff waivers for U.S.
soybean imports stoked hopes of an improvement in trade
relations between the world's two largest economies. The won and
the benchmark bond yield dropped.
    
** China has granted new waivers to several domestic state and
private firms exempting them from retaliatory tariffs on
soybeans imported from the United States, Bloomberg said, citing
unidentified sources familiar with the matter.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N26800G
    
** U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he and U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would meet with Chinese
Vice Premier Liu He for trade talks in two weeks.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nW1N25N004
    
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11  ended up 9.34
points, or 0.45%, at 2,101.04. It ended higher for the
thirteenth consecutive session and marked its highest close
since July 23.
    
** Hyundai Motor Group's announcement to set up a joint venture
to develop self-driving vehicle technologies with Aptiv  APTV.N 
lifted shares of Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  and parts maker
Hyundai Mobis  012330.KS .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26F02J
    
** The plan, however, sent shares of auto parts maker Mando
 204320.KS  plunging, with an analyst forecasting intensifying
competition with Mobis.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26F1DQ
    
** Foreigners were net sellers of 178.3 billion won ($149.15
million) worth of shares on the main board.
    
** The won was quoted at 1,195.7 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.14% lower than its previous
close at 1,194.0.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,195.4 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,193.5 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.04%, after U.S. stocks ended little
changed  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks  .N225  rose 0.09%.
    
** The KOSPI has risen 2.94% so far this year, and gained 9.5%
in the previous 30 trading sessions.
    
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 526.96 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 893, the number of advancing shares was 414.
    
** The won has lost 6.7% against the U.S dollar so far this
year.
    
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.04 points to 110.73, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.55%.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.2
basis point to 1.328%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by
0.2 basis point to 1.460%.

($1 = 1,195.4300 won)    

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1468;))