S.Korean stocks, won jump on firm U.S. job data, dovish Fed comments

SHINWON

07/01/2019 07:02

* KOSPI index jumps, foreigners buy
    * Korean won gains against USD
    * South Korea bond yields flat
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z713T

    SEOUL, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
    ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  rose on Monday as
strong job data from the United States and dovish comments from
Federal Reserve chief soothed concerns over global outlook, amid
an expected meeting U.S. and Chinese officials for trade
negotiations later in the day. South Korean won also rose, while
bond yields remained largely unchanged.
    
    ** U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that trade
talks with China were going very well and that weakness in the
Chinese economy gave Beijing a reason to work toward a deal.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1Z6047
    
    ** At 0630 GMT, the KOSPI closed up 26.85 points, or 1.34
percent, at 2,037.10.
    
    ** South Korean shares with exposure to North Korea gained
after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States is
"negotiating a location" for a second summit with North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un. 
    
    ** Shares of jewellery maker J.Estina Co Ltd  026040.KQ  and
textile company Shinwon Corp  009270.KS , which have a branch in
Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, closed up 8.5 percent
and 4.0 percent, respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z706S
    
    ** Dongbu Steel Co Ltd's  016380.KS  stock surged nearly 30
percent after local media report over its top shareholder Korea
Development Bank's plan on stake sale. Dongbu Steel said in a
regulatory filing that it has no plan on top shareholder's stake
sale, while it plans to issue new shares to for new investment
and  transfer of management control.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N1Z202S
    
    ** The country's toy maker Sonokong Co Ltd  066910.KQ 
jumped 10.2 percent after its top shareholder Mattel Inc  MAT.O 
on Sunday announced its worldwide licensing agreement with K-pop
boy band BTS. Mattel will launch a BTS-inspired toy line,
including dolls, collectible figures and games.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z723S
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,118.6 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.53 percent firmer than its
previous close at 1,124.5.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at
1,117.85 per U.S. dollar, down 0.18 percent from the previous
day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it
was being asked at 1,101.45 per dollar.
    
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 1.35 percent, after U.S. stocks
ended the previous session with gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese
stocks  .N225  rose 2.44 percent.
    
    ** The KOSPI is down around 1.5 percent so far this year,
and down by 3.47 percent in the previous 30 days.
    
    ** The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the
dividend yield is 1.28 percent and the market capitalisation is
1,242.04 trillion won.
    
    ** The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 428,010,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 898, the number of advancing shares was 649.
    
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of 55,809 million won worth of
shares.
    
    ** The currency won's high for the year is 1,114.7 per
dollar on January 2 2019 and low is 1,130.05 on January 3 2019.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.02 points to 109.31.
    
    ** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate
was quoted at 1.86 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 1.803 percent, barely changed from the
previous day's 1.80 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5642; Reuters
Messaging: joori.roh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))