S.Korean shares rise as global stimulus efforts outweigh oil price plunge worries

Seegene

22/04/2020 08:48

* KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2CA0QJ

    SEOUL, April 22 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
** South Korean shares gained on Wednesday, snapping a two-day
losing streak, as global stimulus efforts outweighed investors'
worries of a plunge in oil prices. The Korean won weakened,
while the benchmark bond yield rose.
    
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11  closed up 16.77
points, or 0.89%, at 1,896.15. The index has fallen 13.72% so
far this year.
    
** Foreigners were net sellers of 37.0 billion won ($30.02
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** Brent oil futures prices plunged again on Tuesday, extending
oil market panic into a second day with no end in sight to a
swelling global crude glut as the coronavirus pandemic has
obliterated demand for fuel.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2C84TN
    
** The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved $484 billion
in fresh relief for the U.S. economy and hospitals hammered by
the coronavirus pandemic, sending the measure to the House of
Representatives for final passage later this week.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2C906C
    
** Meanwhile, South Korea is preparing for a third supplementary
budget and a 40 trillion won ($32.45 billion) fund to sharply
increase subsidies to keep more Koreans in jobs and help
businesses stay afloat through the course of the coronavirus
outbreak.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2CA0TO
    
** The country reported 11 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday,
bringing the national tally to 10,694.
    
** Shares of Asiana Airlines  020560.KS  surged as much as
24.1%, after South Korea's two state-owned banks said they will
provide up to 1.7 trillion won in fresh liquidity to the
country's second-largest carrier, as the industry struggles with
the coronavirus crisis.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2CA07G
    
** Shares of South Korean biotech company Seegene Inc
 096530.KQ  surged as much as 21.2%, after the company received
U.S. FDA's Emergency Use Authorization for its coronavirus test
kits.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2CA12H
    
** Stock prices recovered their early losses after stimulus
measures started to outweigh worries over the plunge in oil
prices, said Lee Won, an analyst at Bookook Securities. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,232.2 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.20% lower than its previous
close at 1,229.7.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was nearly flat at
1,232.3 per dollar, while in non-deliverable forward trading its
one-month contract  KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,230.1.
    
** The won has lost 6.2% against the dollar so far this year.
    
** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.08 points to 111.48.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.1
basis points to 1.047%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose
by 6.7 basis points to 1.526%.
($1 = 1,232.7100 won)

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +822 6936 0034;))