South Korean stocks climb on AI optimism

Kakao

17/02/2025 07:18

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      KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
    

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      Korean won strengthens against dollar
    

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      South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
    

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      For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N3P803Q
    

  
       SEOUL, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    ** South Korean shares closed higher on Monday, driven by AI
optimism in tech stocks and upbeat performances in stock markets
in China, South Korea's biggest trading partner. 
    The benchmark KOSPI  .KS11  closed up 19.37 points.
    ** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics
 005930.KS  was flat and peer SK Hynix  000660.KS  gained 0.95%,
while battery maker LG Energy Solution  373220.KS  climbed
0.14%.
    ** Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  shed 3.01% and sister automaker
Kia Corp  000270.KS  lost 0.74%, while search engine Naver
 035420.KS  and instant messenger Kakao  035720.KS  were
unchanged and up 0.77%, respectively.
    ** Shares of Tencent  0700.HK  jumped as much as 7.8% to
HK$512, their highest levels since July 2021, and were on course
for a second session of gains. 
    ** South Korea on Monday announced plans to secure 10,000
high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) this year in
an effort to keep up as the global AI race escalates.    
    ** Of the total 941 traded issues, 620 shares advanced,
while 267 declined.
    ** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 223.6 billion
won ($155.1 million) on the main board on Monday.
    ** The won was quoted at 1,441.7 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.01% higher than its previous
close at 1,441.9.
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,441.6
per dollar, down 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable
forward trading, its one-month contract  KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted
at 1,439.5.
    ** The won has gained 2.1% against the dollar so far this
year.
    ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.04 point to 106.68.
    ** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
 KR3YT=RR  rose by 1.2 basis points to 2.623%, while the
benchmark 10-year yield  KR10YT=RR  rose by 2.3 basis points to
2.869%.


($1 = 1,441.9400 won)

 (Reporting by Cynthia Kim)
 ((Cynthia.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5655; Reuters
Messaging: cynthia.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))