S.Korean shares edge higher as social distancing rules eased

OSANGJAIEL Co

20/04/2020 04:24

* KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

    SEOUL, April 20 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
** South Korean shares rose modestly on Monday as relaxation of 
some social distancing rules fuelled optimism about the
reopening of the broader economy, with China's interest rate cut
adding to the sentiment. The Korean won weakened, while the
benchmark bond yield was up.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2C700T   
    
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11  rose 4.44 points,
or 0.23%, to 1,918.07 as of 0218 GMT.
    
** Foreigners were net sellers of 153.3 billion won ($125.82
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** China cut its benchmark lending rate as expected on Monday to
reduce borrowing costs for companies and prop up the
coronavirus-hit economy, after it contracted for the first time
in decades.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nAZN00A3U5
    
** Governors in U.S. states hardest hit by the novel coronavirus
sparred with President Donald Trump over his claims they have
enough tests and should quickly reopen their economies as more
protests are planned over the extension of stay-at-home orders.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2C704M
 
** South Korea reported 13 new coronavirus cases on Monday,
bringing the national tally to 10,674. 
    
** Share prices started to rise after China's central bank
lowered its policy rate, recovering losses in early session,
said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daeshin Securities.  
    
** Shares of Osangjaiel  053980.KQ  surged nearly 30% to 14,600
won on Monday, after its Osang HealthCare unit received U.S.
FDA's Emergency Use Approval (EUA) for its coronavirus test
kits.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2C80BO 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,220.4 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.20% lower than its previous
close at 1,217.9.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,218.6 per
dollar, down 0.2% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,217.0.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.23%. Japanese stocks  .N225  fell
0.87%.
    
** The KOSPI has fallen 12.72% so far this year and lost 8.2% in
the previous 30 trading sessions. 
    
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 588.65 million shares. Of the total traded issues of
901, the number of advancing shares was 558.
    
** The won has lost 5.2% against the dollar so far this year.
    
** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.05 points to 111.64.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.1
basis points to 1.004%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose
by 0.3 basis points to 1.438%.

($1 = 1,218.4500 won)

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +822 6936 0034;))