S.Korea stocks, won hold steady ahead of Fed, BOJ

LG H&H

27/07/2016 03:35

* KOSPI likely to head up after FOMC, BOJ meetings - analyst 
    * Offshore investors set to mark 15th straight buying 
session 
 
    SEOUL, July 27 (Reuters) - South Korean shares and the won 
 KRW=  treaded water early on Wednesday, as market participants 
stayed on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's 
policy decision later in the global day. 
    The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)  .KS11  was 
down 0.1 percent at 2,024.88 points as of 0214 GMT. 
    The won  KRW=KFTC  was quoted at 1,133.9 to the dollar, up 
0.1 percent compared with Tuesday's close of 1,134.9. 
    Cho Byung-hyun, a stock analyst at Yuanta Securities said 
that once global events pass this week, the KOSPI will head 
upward unless South Korea's July export data due on Aug. 1 turns 
out to be surprisingly weak. 
    "There is a possibility of the Japanese yen getting stronger 
after the Bank of Japan's meeting and hurt shares as a result, 
but the impact will be short-lived," said Cho. 
    The Bank of Japan's policy decision is expected on Friday. 
    Foreign investors were poised to be buyers for 15 
consecutive days, purchasing a net 67.7 billion Korean won 
($59.71 million) worth of KOSPI shares near mid-session. 
    The world's top liquid crystal display maker LG Display Co 
Ltd  034220.KS  said its second-quarter profit fell 91 percent 
from a year earlier to 44 billion won ($38.8 million), but the 
shares showed little change since the result was in line with 
estimates.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1AD039 
    LG Household & Healthcare Ltd  051900.KS  dropped more than 
7 percent on profit taking. 
    Decliners outnumbered advancers 402 to 360. 
    September futures on three-year treasury bonds  KTBc1  were 
unchaged at 111.10.  
     
                       0214 GMT    Prev close 
 Dollar/won             1,133.9       1,134.9 
 Yen/won             10.7702/43       10.8569 
 *KTB futures            111.10        111.10 
 KOSPI                 2,024.88      2,027.34 
 * Front-month futures on three-year treasury bonds 
   ($1 = 1,134.0000 won) 
 
 (Reporting by Dahee Kim; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) 
 ((Dahee.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters 
Messaging: dahee.kim@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA MARKETS/MIDDAY