S.Korean stocks end flat as fast-spreading virus keeps investors wary

Monalisa

19/02/2020 07:29

* KOSPI steady, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won almost unchanged vs dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AJ0AF

    SEOUL, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korean stocks closed flat on Wednesday as investors
turned cautious after the government reported 15 new coronavirus
cases. The Korean won was almost unchanged, while the benchmark
bond yield fell.
    
** Including the new infected count, the total number of cases
in the country rose to 46 as of Wednesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AJ0E0
    
** Investors were in a wait-and-see mode amid worries of the
virus' impact on corporate profits, DS Investment & Securities
analyst Na Jeong-hwan said, adding there will not be reckless
selling as investors are aware this issue would not last long. 
    
** The KOSPI  .KS11  ended up 1.46 points, or 0.07%, at
2,210.34. 
    
** Following a jump in new infections, mask manufacturers surged
to hit their intraday price limit, with Monalisa  012690.KS  and
Kleannara  004540.KS  closing up 30% each. 
    
** Foreigners were net sellers of 234.0 billion won ($196.69
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,189.3 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.02% higher than its previous
close at 1,189.5.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,189.4 per
U.S. dollar, up 0.1% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,188.4 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.40%. Japanese stocks  .N225  rose
0.89%.  MKTS/GLOB 
    
** The KOSPI has risen 0.58% so far this year, and gained 1.5%
in the previous 30 trading sessions.
    
** The trading volume was 581.77 million shares. Of the total
traded issues of 906, the number of advancing shares was 303.
    
** The won has lost 2.8% against the dollar so far this year.
    
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.03 point to 110.80, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.42% in late
afternoon trade.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.2
basis points to 1.284% in late afternoon trade, while the
benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.2 basis points to 1.559%.

($1 = 1,189.6900 won)

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1468;))