S.Korean stocks inch higher on brisk Chinese factory data
02/09/2019 07:44
* KOSPI index edges up, foreigners net sellers
* Korean won strengthens modestly vs dollar
* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
* For the midday report, please click urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N25T077
SEOUL, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
** South Korean shares rose marginally on Monday, as brisk
Chinese factory activity data tempered investors' anxiety caused
by a fresh round of Sino-U.S. tariffs. Both the Korean won and
the benchmark bond yield rose.
** China's factory activity unexpectedly expanded in August as
production edged up, a private business survey showed, but
orders remained weak and business confidence faltered as the
Sino-U.S. trade war continued to escalate. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N25Q0XL
** The United States slapped 15% tariffs on a variety of Chinese
goods on Sunday, including footwear, smart watches and
flat-panel televisions, while China imposed new duties on U.S.
crude, the latest escalation in a bruising trade war.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N25S01P
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI .KS11 ended up 1.40,
points, or 0.07%, at 1,969.19.
** Shares of South Korea's education companies surged after
President Moon Jae-in told policymakers to review the current
college entrance system. Shares of Mega Study 072870.KQ
closing up 24.2%, while NE Neungyule 053290.KQ gained more
than 10%. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N25T0R7
** South Korea's batterymakers slipped after local media
reported that an energy storage system (ESS) facility in the
country's South Chungcheong Province caught fire. Shares of LG
Chem 051910.KS and Samsung SDI 006400.KS lost 2.7% and 1.4%,
respectively. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N25T0AG
** Foreigners were net sellers of 131.5 billion won ($108.44
million) worth of shares on the main board.
** The won was quoted at 1,210.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform KRW=KFTC , 0.03% higher than its previous
close at 1,211.2.
** In offshore trading, the won KRW= was quoted at 1,210.8 per
U.S. dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
KRW1MNDFOR= was quoted at 1,208.9 per dollar.
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.26%, after U.S. stocks were mixed on
Friday MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks .N225 fell 0.41%.
** The KOSPI has fallen 3.52% so far this year, and lost 4.8% in
the previous 30 trading sessions.
** The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend
yield is 1.28% and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04
trillion won.
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index
.KS11 was 258.32 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 890, the number of advancing shares was 526.
** The won has lost 7.9% against the U.S dollar so far this
year.
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds KTBc1 fell 0.15 points to 110.94, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.49%.
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 7.1
basis points to 1.236%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose
by 7.9 basis points to 1.352%.
($1 = 1,212.6600 won)
(Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1468;))