S.Korea stocks recover as U.S. recession fears recede; won rises

Kumho Engineering & Construction

26/03/2019 02:27

* KOSPI index inches up, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won gains versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

    SEOUL, March 26 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  edged up on Tuesday,
following a sharp drop in the previous session, as U.S.
recession fears receded. The Korean won and the benchmark bond
yield rose.
 
** As of 0219 GMT, the Seoul stock market's main KOSPI rose 5.95
points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,150.81 points. 
    
** On Monday, South Korean stocks fell the most in nearly 5
months as fears of global economic slowdown spooked investors.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nZZN2YJI00
    
** The inversion between yields on three-month Treasury bills
 US3MT=RR  and 10-year notes  US10YT=RR  rattled investors
yesterday, but possibility of recession is not high considering
the current economic status, Kim Yong-koo, an analyst at Hana
Financial Investment, said, noting it has fetched the markets
from a faint. 
    
** Shares of the nation's second-biggest carrier, Asiana
Airlines  020560.KS  resumed trading as its auditor approved
account, with its shares trading down nearly 15 percent. Stocks
of Kumho Industrial  002990.KS , Asiana's biggest shareholder,
are trading down 22.1 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21D01H
 
** Foreigners were net sellers of 62.0 billion won worth of
shares on the main board. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,131.9 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.20 percent higher than its
previous close at 1,134.2.
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,131.3 per
U.S. dollar, up 0.0 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,130.3 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.18 percent, after U.S. stocks ended
subdued  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks  .N225  rose 1.56 percent.
    
** The KOSPI has risen 5.21 percent so far this year, and fell
1.5 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 120.90 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 895, the number of advancing shares was 513.
    
** The won has lost 1.4 percent against the U.S dollar this
year.
    
** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.06 points to 109.48, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.90 percent.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.6
basis points to 1.762 percent, while the benchmark 10-year yield
rose by 1.7 basis points to 1.903 percent.

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters
Messaging: hayoung.choi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))