S.Korean stocks drop as global growth worries simmer on Fed view

LG Innotek Co

20/12/2018 02:25

* KOSPI index drops, foreigners sell
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korean bond yields climb

    SEOUL, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  slipped on Thursday
as the U.S. Federal Reserve stuck to its outlook for continued
policy tightening next year, suppressing hopes that the Fed will
adopt a dovish stance in the face of softening global growth.
The Korean won fell while bond yields rose.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nTLAJNEE4N

** At 02:17 GMT, the KOSPI was down 12.14 points or 0.58 percent
at 2,066.70, trimming deeper losses earlier in the session.  

** South Korea's electric and electronic sub-index  .KS41 
dropped on worries of weak smartphone demand. SK Hynix
 000660.KS  fell more than 3 pct to a one-and-a-half-year low,
while LG Innotek  011070.KS  slid more than 4 percent to the
lowest in nearly two years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YP07P

** U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology Inc  MU.O  has joined its
South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics Co Ltd  005930.KS  and
SK Hynix in warning about a market glut of memory chips as
consumer and business demand for phones and computers is
weakening.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YN50N
 
** The won was quoted at 1,128.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.47 percent weaker than its
previous close at 1,123.5. 
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,127.6 per
U.S. dollar, up 0.1 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was being
transacted at 1,108.85 per dollar. 
 
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.62 percent, after U.S. stocks ended
the previous session with losses  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  weakened 0.94 percent. 
 
** The KOSPI is down around 15.8 percent so far this year, and
down by 0.01 percent in the previous 30 days.
 
** 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 167,211,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 882, the number of advancing shares was 356.
 
** Foreigners were net sellers of 58,098 million won worth of
shares.
 
** The U.S. dollar has risen 5.74 percent against the won this
year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on
April 2 2018 and low is 1,146.26 on October 11 2018.
 
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.08 points to 109.31.
 
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was
quoted at 1.9 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 1.81 percent, higher than the previous
day's 1.79 percent.

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters
Messaging: hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com))