South Korean shares log worst week in 6 years on Iran war

LG Energy Solution

06/03/2026 06:33

KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers

Korean won strengthens against dollar

South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

For the midday report, please click nL1N3ZU03A

SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares closed little changed on Friday to end a week of heightened volatility with the biggest drop in six years on a widening war in the Middle East.

** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 closed up 0.97 points, or 0.02%, at 5,584.87, after falling as much as 3.63% and gaining as much as 0.47%.

** The KOSPI fell 10.56% this week, the biggest since March 2020.

** The KOSPI fell more than 7% on Tuesday, after a holiday on Monday, and posted a record 12% drop on Wednesday, before rebounding 10% on Thursday.

** "The index was supported by fundamentals-based dip-buying around 5,500 points, after sharp gains and losses this week," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

** South Korea, the world's fourth-largest oil importer with 70% of purchases coming from the Middle East, plans to receive more than 6 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

** The government is also making efforts to cap a surge in energy prices amid worries about upside risk to consumer inflation, which remained at a five-month low of 2.0% in February.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS fell 1.77%, while peer SK Hynix 000660.KS lost 1.81%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS climbed 1.62%.

** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 1.9 trillion won ($1.29 billion).

** The won was quoted at 1,476.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.39% higher than its previous close at 1,482.2.

** Earlier this week, the won hit a psychological barrier of 1,500 per dollar for the first time since March 2009.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR rose by 2.0 basis points to 3.209%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR rose by 0.9 basis point to 3.602%.

($1 = 1,475.1200 won)

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee;  Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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