S.Korea stocks, won fall; global events awaited

Hotel Shilla

13/06/2016 03:43

* Concerns over Brexit vote mainly pressuring equities 
    * KOSPI down more than 1 pct 
 
    SEOUL, June 13 (Reuters) - South Korean shares and the won 
 KRW=  declined sharply early on Monday as demand for safe-haven 
assets rose ahead of some global events, including the Brexit 
referendum scheduled for June 23. 
    The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)  .KS11  was 
down 1.5 percent at 1,986.64 as of 0223 GMT, the lowest in more 
than a week. 
    The won  KRW=KFTC  was quoted at 1,172.6 to the dollar, down 
0.6 percent from its previous close of 1,165.5. 
    "Stocks in the U.S. and EU all plummeted last week on 
worries about the Brexit issue and these are affecting South 
Korean stocks today," said Kim Ye-eun, a stock analyst at LIG 
Investment & Securities. 
    British support for leaving the European Union stood 
marginally ahead of those who want to remain part of the bloc 
according to a poll.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1930BW 
    Kim said central bank meetings scheduled for this week in 
the United States, Japan, the UK and Switzerland have also been 
adding to market jitters, pressuring local equities. 
    Foreign investors were poised to be sellers for the day, 
offloading a net 101.2 billion won ($86.32 million) worth of 
KOSPI shares near mid-session, which weighed on the index. 
    The KOSPI was set to mark the biggest daily percentage loss 
in four months. 
    Decliners far outnumbered the gainers 682 to 154. 
    Shares of South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate, Lotte 
Group, were sharply lower amid growing uncertainties stemming 
from an ongoing prosecutors' investigation.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N19501Z 
    Shares of Hotel Shilla Co Ltd  008770.KS  rose as much as 
4.3 percent early in the session on expectations that the stock 
would benefit from rival Lotte's current woes. It was trading up 
2.3 percent near midday. 
    June futures on three-year treasury bonds  KTBc1  gained 
0.04 point to 110.71. 
     
                       0223 GMT    Prev close 
 Dollar/won             1,172.6       1,165.5 
 Yen/won             11.0406/05       10.9462 
 *KTB futures            110.71        110.67 
 KOSPI                 1,986.64      2,017.63 
 * Front-month futures on three-year treasury bonds 
 
 (Reporting by Dahee Kim; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi) 
 ((Dahee.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters 
Messaging: dahee.kim@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA MARKETS/MIDDAY