South Korean shares set for sixth weekly gain on chipmaker boost

LIG Defense & Aerospace

08/12/2023 02:15

* 
      KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
    

        * 
      Korean won strengthens against dollar
    

        * 
      South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
    

  
       SEOUL, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares climbed on Friday, and were set to
post a sixth straight weekly gain, as heavyweight chipmakers
tracked overnight strength in their U.S. peers. The won firmed
against the dollar and the benchmark bond yield also rose. 
    ** The Korean won jumped after Reuters reported the
country's National Pension Service (NPS) and the central bank
were in talks to extend their foreign exchange swap programme
that was due to expire in December.
    ** The benchmark KOSPI  .KS11  was up 19.44 points, or
0.78%, at 2,511.51 by 0134 GMT. The index gained 0.25% so far
this week.
    ** Chipmaker Samsung Electronics  005930.KS  rose 1.54% and
peer SK Hynix  000660.KS  gained 2.23%, tracking an overnight
jump of 2.8% in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index  .SOX . 
    ** Most other index heavyweights also climbed, including
battery makers, automakers and online platform companies. Shares
of biopharmaceutical manufacturers were trading mixed.    
    ** Hanwha Aerospace  012450.KS  fell 1.6% despite a $2.4
billion defence contract with Australia. Shares of Hanwha
Systems  272210.KS  dropped 0.37% even as the defence firm
sealed an order worth 233 billion won ($178.04 million) with LIG
Nex1  079550.KS .   
    ** Of the total 935 traded issues, 484 shares advanced,
while 368 declined.
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 82.7 billion
won on the main board. For the week, they have bought 100
billion won. 
    ** The won was quoted at 1,307.3 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 1.38% higher than its previous
close at 1,325.3.
    ** The won was still down 0.12% for the week. 
    ** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.04 point to 104.21.
    ** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
rose by 0.3 basis point to 3.516%, while the benchmark 10-year
yield climbed 1.7 basis points to 3.595%.

   ($1 = 1,308.7000 won)
    
    

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))