S.Korea stocks, won stutter as investors on guard before Brexit vote

SAMSUNG SDS

21/06/2016 03:42

* Shares and won keep changing courses on market volatility 
    * KOSPI expected to rebound this week - analyst 
 
    SEOUL, June 21 (Reuters) - South Korean shares and won 
 KRW=  failed to build on the previous days gains, as investors 
were wary of becoming carried away by hopes that Britain will 
vote to stay in the European Union. 
    If Britain does opt to remain in Thursday's referendum, 
analysts expect investors to rediscover their taste for riskier 
assets, like South Korean shares, but a vote to leave would 
damage the European markets for South Korean exporters. 
    Reflecting the uncertainty, the Korea Composite Stock Price 
Index (KOPS)  .KS11  flitted in and out of positive territory to 
stand 0.1 percent down at 1,979.42 points. 
    The won  TRW=CFTC  was quoted at 1,156.4 to the dollar, up 
0.4 percent compared with Monday's close of 1,160.8 after 
slipping 0.2 percent in earlier trade. 
    "The KOPS is likely to rebound this week since economic data 
from other countries have been positive and the current won 
level is still cheap enough to support foreign buying," said 
Chow Byung-hyun, a stock analyst at Yuan Securities. 
    For the day, Chow added that weak exports data released 
earlier in the day had cast some gloom, although its impact was 
limited. 
    South Korea's exports during the June 1-20 period dropped 
12.8 percent to $25.659 billion in annual terms, customs data 
said on Tuesday.  NS6N15V027   
    Full month figures will be released next week. 
    Offshore investors were poised to be sellers, offloading a 
net 149.3 billion Korean won ($129.12 million) worth of KOPS 
shares near mid-session, weighing on the index.  
    Software services firm Samsung SD Co Ltd  018260.KS  lost 
2.6 percent after it said it decided against buying back its own 
shares or paying an interim dividend after considering requests 
from some shareholders.  NS6N17V00H  
    Shares of Samsung SD Co Ltd  006400.KS  slumped as much as 
6.7 percent and LEG Chemo Ltd  051910.KS  5.6 percent on media 
reports that China may not give out subsidies to electric 
vehicles powered by batteries made by the South Korean firms. 
 NL4N19D052  
    Decliners outnumbered advancers 479 to 311. 
    June futures on three-year treasury bonds  KTBc1  gained 
0.01 point to 110.56.  
     
                       0224 GMT    Prevue close 
 Dollar/won             1,156.4       1,160.8 
 Yen/won             11.1064/10       11.1446 
 *KGB futures            110.56        110.55 
 KOPS                 1,979.42      1,981.12 
 * Front-month futures on three-year treasury bonds 
 
 (Reporting by Dahee Kim; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) 
 ((Dahee.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters 
Messaging: dahee.kim@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA MARKETS/MIDDAY