S.Korean stocks end higher on China-U.S. trade talks; won gains

Jin Air Co

17/08/2018 08:03

* KOSPI index rises, foreigners buy
    * Korean won rises versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea bond yields down
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1V819V

    SEOUL, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  ended higher on
Friday after China and the United States agreed to hold their
first trade talks since June next week and as extended gains in
the Turkish lira ebbed worries about a potential Turkey crisis.
The Korean won rose while bond yields dropped.
    
** Statistics Korea data out on Friday posted the weakest jobs
growth in nearly nine years in July in the depths of the global
financial crisis. While this adds pressure on South Korean
President Moon Jae-in to do more to boost economic growth and
abandon policies focused on raising wages and improving income
distribution, the expectations on raising interest rates at the
Bank of Korea meeting on August 31 dampened.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1V8028
 
** At 0632 GMT, the KOSPI was up 6.25 points or 0.28 percent at
2,247.05. For the week, the benchmark index tumbled 1.6 percent,
marking its biggest weekly loss since July 6.
    
** South Korea's budget carrier Jin Air Co Ltd  272450.KS , an
affiliate of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd  003490.KS , gained on
South Korea's transport ministry announcement to not revoke the
aviation business licence of the company. Shares in Jin Air
initially soared as much as 24 percent after news broke that its
business licence was intact but later pared gains to close 6.2
percent higher.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1V8165
 
** The won was quoted at 1,124.9 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.46 percent firmer than its
previous close at 1,130.1. The currency gained 0.4 percent on a
weekly basis, snapping the two consecutive sessions of weekly
loss.
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,124.89
per U.S. dollar, up 0.12 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was being
transacted at 1,108.25 per dollar. 
 
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.39 percent, after U.S. stocks ended the
previous session with mild gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  rose 0.35 percent. 
 
** The KOSPI is down around 9.2 percent so far this year, and
slipped 1.09 percent in the previous 30 days.
 
** 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 231,926,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 899, the number of advancing shares was 555.
 
** Foreigners were net buyers of 104,231 million won worth of
shares.
 
** The U.S dollar has risen 5.48 percent against the won this
year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on
April 2, 2018, and low is 1,140.4 on July 19, 2018.
 
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.11 points to 108.5.
 
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was
quoted at 1.65 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 2.008 percent, lower than the previous
day's 2.06 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com;))