S.Korean stocks at record high as cbank raises growth outlook, won edges up

KEPCO Engineering & Construction Co

20/10/2017 07:30

* For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1MV1MR 
 
    SEOUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) - South Korean shares rose to an 
all-time high on Friday after the Bank of Korea upgraded its 
economic outlook, boosting investor confidence.   
    The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)  .KS11  closed 
up 0.7 percent at 2,489.54 points, a record closing high. 
    For the week, the index rose 0.6 percent, marking its fifth 
straight weeks of gains. 
    Offshore investors bought a net 161.5 billion won ($142.81 
million) worth of local equities on the day. 
    Shares of major tech firms were in hot demand, with Samsung 
Electronics  005930.KS  and SK Hynix  000660.KS  rising 1.6 
percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. 
    Shares of Korea Electric Power Corp  015760.KS  rose 0.6 
percent after a government-organized committee recommended the 
resumption of construction on a nuclear power plant, which had 
been halted in June. 
    KEPCO Engineering & Construction  052690.KS  lost 1.2 
percent and  KEPCO Plant Service  051600.KS  rose 1.7 percent. 
    The South Korean won  KRW=  edged up, supported by foreign 
inflows into stocks.  
    The won  KRW=KFTC  was quoted at 1,131.0 to the dollar at 
the conclusion of onshore trade, up 0.1 percent from Thursday's 
close of 1,132.4. 
    The currency shed 0.2 percent on a weekly basis.  
    Korea Treasury Bond futures  KTBc1  fell 0.18 of a point 
after a 0.24 point drop on Thursday, as many traders believed 
BOK could raise rates sooner than expected. 
    The Bank of Korea kept policy unchanged on Thursday but 
raised its 2017 economic growth forecast to 3 percent from 2.8 
percent, boosting expectations for an interest rate hike as soon 
as November. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1MT1MU 
      
 
 (Reporting by Dahee Kim; Editing by Kim Coghill) 
 ((Dahee.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters 
Messaging: dahee.kim@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA MARKETS/CLOSE