S.Korea stocks drop as Japan refuses to scrap export curbs

Netmarble

09/07/2019 03:03

* KOSPI index drops, foreigners net buyers
    * Korean won strengthens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield steady

    SEOUL, July 9 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  fell on Tuesday as a
trade row between Seoul and Tokyo showed scant signs of abating,
with a Japanese minister ruling out a withdrawal of export
curbs. The won rose, while benchmark bond yield was steady.
    
** Industry minister Hiroshige Seko said Japan was "not thinking
at all" of withdrawing restrictions on Japanese high-tech
exports to South Korea and that the curbs did not violate World
Trade Organization rules.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nT9N22Q023
    
** Japan announced curbs last week on high-tech exports of
materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea
amid a growing dispute over South Koreans forced to work for
Japanese firms during World War Two.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2420DG
    
** The KOSPI index was affected by the remarks from Japan, the
biggest source of uncertainties as of now, said Lee Won, an
analyst at Bookook Securities. 
    
** As of 0155 GMT, the Seoul stock market's main KOSPI fell 3.79
points or 0.18% to 2,060.38 points, failing to rebound from a
sharp fall in the previous session. 
    
** South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Monday urged Japan to
withdraw export controls on high-tech materials as the bilateral
conflict over forced wartime labour threatened to disrupt global
supplies of South Korean memory chips and smartphones.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2491GT
    
** Shares of Netmarble Corp  251270.KS  rose more than 7% after
the gaming firm said it will buy back its shares worth 200
billion won ($169.60 million) to stabilise stock price.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N23X01M
    
** Foreigners were net buyers of 16.2 billion won ($13.74
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,180.2 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.15% higher than its previous
close at 1,182.0.
     
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,179.8 per
U.S. dollar, unchanged from the previous session, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,178.8 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.18%, after U.S. stocks slipped.
Japanese stocks  .N225  rose 0.32%.  MKTS/GLOB 
    
** The KOSPI climbed 0.99% so far this year, and gained 0.9% 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 on the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 172.27 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 892, the number of advancing shares was 232.
    
** The won lost 5.5% against the U.S dollar so far this year.
    
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.01 points to 110.57, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.78%.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.3
basis points to 1.421%, while the benchmark 10-year yield was
flat at 1.535%.

($1 = 1,179.2200 won)

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters
Messaging: hayoung.choi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))