S.Korean stocks, won edge higher; U.S. tariffs kick in

LG Innotek Co

06/07/2018 08:31

* KOSPI index ends higher, foreigners sell
    * Korean won higher against U.S. dollar
    * South Korea bond yields edge up
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1U21JY

    SEOUL, July 6 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  and the won gained on
Friday after Washington imposed tariffs on more than 800 goods
from China worth $34 billion, a decision investors fear could
stoke a full-scale trade war. Bond yields rose.

** Tensions between the United States and China escalated as
China's commerce ministry said on Friday that China has no
choice but to fight back against U.S. trade bullying, after
Trump administration carried out its tariff policy on China.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N1TR00Z
 
** At 0630 GMT, the KOSPI ended up 15.32 points or 0.68 percent
at 2,272.87. The benchmark stock index fell 2.3 pct on a weekly
basis, marking the biggest weekly loss since March. Samsung
Electronics  005930.KS  ended 2.3 percent lower after the tech
giant said its April-June profit was likely 14.8 trillion won
($13.2 billion), below the 14.9 trillion won average of 18
analysts' estimates in a Thomson Reuters poll. Revenue likely
fell 4.9 percent from a year earlier to 58 trillion won,
dampening investor sentiment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1U0285

** Meanwhile, shares of South Korean smartphone components
suppliers leaped on expectations ahead of Apple's  AAPL.O  new
iPhone release scheduled in September. Domestic suppliers for
Apple include battery maker Samsung SDI  006400.KS , multi-layer
ceramic capacitor (MLCC) supplier Samsung Electro-Mechanics
 009150.KS  and camera module manufacturer LG Innotek
 011070.KS  jumped 7.4 percent, 3.9 percent and 7.2 percent,
respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1U2203
    
** Despite worries over U.S.-China trade war, shares of nation's
carmakers closed higher to its previous session as the investors
sought optimistic outlook that the United States and the EU may
agree to withdraw auto tariffs. Hyundai Motor  005380.KS , South
Korea's biggest automaker, gained as much as 3.7 percent, which
led the company to step up as the country's 4th largest company
by market capitalisation, according to Korea Stock Exchange
Index KOSPI  .KS11  data. Key affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group
including Kia Motors  000270.KS  and Hyundai Mobis  012330.KS 
also gained 4.6 pct and 2.8 pct, respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1U219X
** The won was quoted at 1,115.9 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.24 percent firmer than its
previous close at 1,118.6. For the week, the currency gained 0.1
percent, marking fifth winning streak of weekly gain.
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,114.39
per U.S. dollar, up 0.35 percent from the previous session,
while in one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was
being asked at 1,098.75 per dollar. 
 
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  rose 0.57 percent, after U.S. stocks ended the
previous session with mild gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  rose 1.12 percent. 
 
** The KOSPI is down around 8.5 percent so far this year, and
down by 8.44 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 340,894,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 885, the number of advancing shares was 659.
 
** Foreigners were net sellers of 381,972 million won worth of
shares.
 
** The U.S dollar has risen 4.5 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 1,125.17 on June 27, 2018.
 
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.06 points to 108.11.
 
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was
quoted at 1.65 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 2.115 percent, higher than the previous
day's 2.10 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com;))