S.Korean shares snap five-day decline as acting president vows to stabilise markets

Kakao

03/01/2025 07:12

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      KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
    

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      Korean won strengthens against dollar
    

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      South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
    

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      For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3NZ00V
    

  
       SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares rose more than 1% on Friday, as the
country's finance minister, who was recently appointed acting
president, remained committed to stabilising the country's
financial markets.
    ** The won traded slightly firmer against the dollar, after
12 straight sessions of declines, while the benchmark bond yield
fell. 
    ** The benchmark KOSPI  .KS11  closed up 42.98 points, or
1.79%, at 2,441.92, after falling for five consecutive sessions.
    ** South Korea's acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered
financial agencies to deploy market-stabilising measures swiftly
and boldly if volatility heightened. 
    ** Choi said he would continue to hold financial leaders'
meetings every week to review market conditions.  
    ** South Korea's investigation authorities attempted but
failed to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday over his
short-lived martial law bid, after a tense six-hour stand-off
inside Yoon's compound.
    ** The KOSPI, which rose as much as 2.3% during the session,
cut gains after the failure to arrest Yoon. 
    ** "The index rose on dip-buying, but political uncertainty
remains high," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset
Securities.
    ** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics
 005930.KS  rose 1.87%, peer SK Hynix  000660.KS  gained 6.25%,
battery maker LG Energy Solution  373220.KS  climbed 2.89%.
    ** Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  added 0.71% but sister
automaker Kia Corp  000270.KS  lost 0.89%. Search engine Naver
 035420.KS  and instant messenger Kakao  035720.KS  were up
3.46% and 1.60%, respectively.
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 280.3 billion
won ($190.94 million).
    ** The won was quoted at 1,468.4 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.05% higher than its previous
close at 1,469.1.
    ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  was unchanged at 106.89.
    ** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
 KR3YT=RR  fell by 2.4 basis points to 2.485%, while the
benchmark 10-year yield  KR10YT=RR  fell by 1.5 basis points to
2.752%.

($1 = 1,467.9700 won)

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))