S.Korean stocks, won fall on escalating U.S.-China trade tensions

Jin Air Co

27/06/2018 07:30

* KOSPI index skids, foreigners buy
    * Korean won dips against U.S. dollar
    * South Korea bond yields down
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TT1EL

    SEOUL, June 27 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  and the won both
collapsed on Wednesday as the escalating U.S.-China trade
conflict dented investor sentiment. Bond yields also fell.
 
** President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed U.S. Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin's approach saying the administration's
plans are not just limited to China but would target all
countries, after Mnuchin and White House trade adviser Peter
Navarro sent conflicting signals on Monday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1TS1NO

** U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is currently visiting China
for his first talks with Chinese officials including his
counterpart Wei Fenghe to boost security dialogue over the
intensifying U.S.-China woes.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TT09H
    
** China's commerce ministry on Wednesday said it would assess
the potential impact of U.S. investment regulations on Chinese
firms without giving other details.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N1TE016       
** At 06:31 GMT, the KOSPI was down 8.89 points or 0.38 percent
at 2,342.03. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics  005930.KS 
rose 2 percent, while steel maker Posco  005490.KS  and chemical
firm LG Chem  051910.KS  dropped 3.2 percent and 3.7 percent,
respectively.
    
** Shares of Korean Air Lines  003490.KS  and its budget carrier
affiliate Jin Air  272450.KS  plunged as much as 2.1 percent and
5.9 percent respectively, as Chairman Cho Yang-ho will be
summoned for questioning on Thursday by state prosecutors
probing suspected tax evasion, embezzlement and breach of trust
by members of the airline's founding family.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TT08I
    
** The won was quoted at 1,117.6 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.25 percent weaker than its
previous close at 1,114.8. 
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,117.41
per U.S. dollar, up 0.01 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was being asked
at 1,101.05 per dollar. 
 
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.67 percent, after U.S. stocks ended
the previous session with gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  eased 0.31 percent. 
 
** The KOSPI is down around 4.7 percent so far this year, and
down by 4.60 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 515,553,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 889, the number of advancing shares was 223.
 
** Foreigners were net buyers of 74,969 million won worth of
shares.
 
** The U.S dollar has risen 4.79 percent against the won this
year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on
April 2, 2018 and the low is 1,120.01 on June 26, 2018.
 
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.06 points to 108.02.
 
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was
quoted at 1.65 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 2.128 percent, lower than the previous
day's 2.15 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Sunil Nair)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com;))