South Korean shares hit over 7-week high on chip, battery boost

LG Energy Solution

20/04/2026 04:57

KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers

Korean won weakens against dollar

South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

SEOUL, April 20 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose more than 1% on Monday to hit their highest level in more than seven weeks, led by gains in chip and battery makers, even as investors kept an eye on the Middle East conflict.

** Benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was up 71.33 points, or 1.15%, at 6,263.25 as of 0338 GMT, hitting its highest intraday level since February 26.

** Concerns are growing that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran might not hold. Tehran has vowed to retaliate after the U.S. said that it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade.

** SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 3.81%, after the chipmaker said it was set to begin mass production of Small Outline Compression Attached Memory Module2 (SOCAMM2) designed for use with Nvidia's NVDA.O Vera Rubin chips. Peer Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 0.23%.

** Samsung SDI 006400.KS jumped 5.07% after a media report that the battery maker inked a deal with Mercedes. Peer LG Energy Solution 373220.KS climbed 3.47%.

** Among other heavyweights, Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS were down 1.30% and 0.06%, respectively, but steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS added 1.56%.

** Of the total 907 traded issues, 425 shares advanced, while 434 declined.

** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 242.3 billion won ($164.26 million).

** The won was quoted at 1,475.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 1.06% lower than its previous close at 1,460.0.

** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 gained 0.15 point to 104.37.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 3.7 basis points to 3.331%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 3.6 basis points to 3.674%.

($1 = 1,475.1000 won)

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))