S.Korean shares gain as lockdown curbs ease; Sino-U.S. rift in focus

SK Telecom Co

25/05/2020 04:15

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

    SEOUL, May 25 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares rose on Monday as the global easing
of coronavirus-led restrictions lifted hopes of an economic
recovery, though worries of mounting Sino-U.S. tensions capped
gains. The Korean won and the benchmark bond yield weakened.
    
    ** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11  was up 7.45
points, or 0.42%, at 1,977.58, as of 0216 GMT.
    
    ** South Korean shares have recovered more sharply from the
coronavirus-driven routs than others, said Kyobo Securities'
analyst Lim Dong-min, adding that the stock prices will be
rangebound as worries of a second wave of COVID-19 infections
and renewed Sino-U.S. tensions persist.
    
    ** The U.S. Commerce Department said late Friday it would
add 33 Chinese companies and other institutions to a blacklist
for human rights violations and to address U.S. national
security concerns.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2D41OD
    
    ** The decision came in hours after China proposed imposing
national security laws on Hong Kong after last year's
pro-democracy unrest.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2D32O6
    
    ** Shares of Kakao Corp  035720.KS , South Korea's top
mobile messenger provider, rose more than 6% as the COVID-19
crisis boosted demand for "contactless services" such as online
payment and e-commerce with many people stuck indoors. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2D70GA
    
    ** Foreigners were net sellers of 69.1 billion won ($55.66
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,241.8 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.39% lower than its previous
close at 1,237.0.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,242.3
per dollar, down 0.1% from the previous session, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,242.0.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.01 point to 112.20.
    
    ** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by
1.6 basis points to 0.825%, while the benchmark 10-year yield
dropped 1.2 basis points to 1.338%.

    ($1 = 1,241.4000 won)

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +822 6936 0034;))