S.Korean stocks plunge on U.S. manufacturing shock, Hong Kong unrest

Hyundai Elevator

02/10/2019 08:39

* KOSPI slumps almost 2%, foreigners net seller
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26N02L

    SEOUL, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korean shares slumped nearly 2% on Wednesday as
investors worried about a slowdown in the United States and
heightened political risks in Hong Kong. The won and the
benchmark bond yield fell.
    
** U.S. manufacturing activity tumbled to a more than 10-year
low in September, as lingering trade tensions weighed on
exports, further heightening financial market fears of a sharp
slowdown in economic growth in the third quarter.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N26L0OS
    
** Hong Kong police shot a teenage protester on Tuesday, the
first to be hit by live ammunition in almost four months of
unrest in the Chinese-ruled city, amid violent clashes on the
70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26M2JC
    
** The KOSPI  .KS11  ended down 40.51 points, or 1.95%, at
2,031.91, posting its lowest close since Sept 9. 
    
** U.S. slowdown worries triggered a large sell-off, while Hong
Kong unrest also hit sentiment, said Seo Sang-young, an analyst
at Kiwoom Securities. North Korea's latest missile launch had a
limited impact on domestic markets, as the missile was not
considered as a threat to the United States, he added.   
    
** North Korea fired a missile off its east coast on Wednesday
that South Korea said may have been launched from a submarine, a
day after it announced the resumption of talks with the United
States aimed at ending its nuclear programme.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26M4EQ
  
** Foreigners were net sellers of 116.3 billion won ($96.44
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,206.0 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.58% lower than its previous
close at 1,199.0.
     
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,206.6 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.3% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,205.6 per dollar.
     
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.77%, after U.S. stocks declined
 MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks  .N225  fell 0.49%.
         
** The KOSPI has fallen 0.45% so far this year, but gained 7.5%
in the previous 30 trading sessions.
         
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 406.20 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 890, the number of advancing shares was 181.
    
** The won has lost 7.5% against the dollar so far this year.
    
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.06 points to 110.81, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.55%.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.0
basis points to 1.303%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell
by 0.6 basis points to 1.493%.
    
** South Korean financial markets will be closed on Thursday for
a public holiday. Markets will resume normal trading on Friday,
Oct. 4. 
    
($1 = 1,205.9000 won)    

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