S.Korean stocks jump after Brexit deal changes; won gains

JYP Entertainment

12/03/2019 07:02

* KOSPI index jumps, foreigners buy
    * Korean won gains against USD
    * South Korea bond yields up
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20Z08D

    SEOUL, March 12 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares rose nearly 1 percent on Tuesday, in
line with broader Asian markets after the European Commission
agreed to changes in a Brexit deal ahead of a vote in the
British parliament later in the day. The won strengthened, while
 the benchmark bond fell.
    
    ** European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said on
Monday he agreed an updated Brexit deal with British Prime
Minister Theresa May to make the agreement more palatable to UK
lawmakers but warned they would not get a third chance to
endorse it.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N20Y6Z4
    
    ** The benchmark KOSPI index  .KS11  ended 19.08 points, or
0.89 percent, higher at 2,157.18 points, in its biggest daily
gain since Feb. 20.
    
    ** Shares in major liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
distributors rose after local media reported that the government
and the ruling party agreed to entirely scrap regulations on
LPG-fuelled vehicles. SK Gas Ltd  018670.KS  and E1 Corp
 017940.KS  closed up 3.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20Z0ES
    
    ** YG Entertainment Inc  122870.KQ , one of South Korea's
three major K-pop talent agencies, closed lower for a second
straight session, down 3.4 percent, after a member of K-pop band
Big Bang said he would leave the entertainment industry after
his alleged sex bribery case swept the country. Other major
agencies SM Entertainment Co Ltd  041510.KQ  and JYP
Entertainment Corp  035900.KQ  dropped 3.7 percent and 4.0
percent, respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20Y21A
    
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of 0.9 billion won worth of
shares on the main board.
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,129.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.35 percent higher than its
previous close at 1,133.7, extending its gain into a second
session.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,129.5
per U.S. dollar, up 0.1 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,127.7 per dollar.
    
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.87 percent, after U.S. stocks
ended the previous session with gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese
stocks  .N225  rose 1.79 percent.
    
    ** The KOSPI has risen 5.69 percent so far this year, and
rose 1.0 percent in the previous 30 trading sessions.
    
    ** 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 345.71 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 897, the number of advancing shares was 590.
    
    ** The won has lost 1.2 percent against the U.S dollar this
year.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.01 points to 109.24, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.89 percent.
    
    ** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by
0.5 basis points to 1.815 percent, while the benchmark 10-year
yield rose by 1.3 basis points to 1.998 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5642; Reuters
Messaging: joori.roh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))