S.Korea stocks add over 1% on Wall Street tailwind, expectations of chipmakers

Soulbrain Holdings

03/01/2020 01:45

* KOSPI rallies, foreigners net buyers
    * Korean won strengthens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

    SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korean stocks added over 1% on Friday, recouping their
losses in the previous session, as investors cheered Wall
Street's record highs and pinned their hopes on chipmakers'
business recovery. The Korean won gained, while the benchmark
bond yield fell.
    
** External uncertainties have relieved and U.S. stocks' record
highs helped local stocks, said Lee Won, an analyst at Bookook
Securities. Expectations of Samsung Elec's earnings buoyed its
shares, he added. 
    
** Wall Street's major indexes notched record highs to open the
new year overnight, as fresh economic stimulus from China added
to optimism fueled by easing trade tensions and an improving
global outlook.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2971AJ
    
** Shares of Samsung Elec  005930.KS  and SK Hynix  000660.KS 
rose more than 2% and 3%, respectively on higher demand
prospects and improving U.S.-China trade ties.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29805E
    
** Shares of SoulBrain  036830.KQ , a supplier of the two major
chipmakers, surged after the firm said it has successfully
produced hydrogen fluoride, a high tech chipmaking material.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N28X0Q2
 
** As of 0130 GMT, the Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11 
rose 25.29 points, or 1.13%, to 2,199.68. For the week, the
KOSPI was set to lose 0.21%.
    
** Foreigners were net buyers of 73.3 billion won ($63.36
million) worth of shares on the main board. 
    
** The won was quoted at 1,157.0 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.10% higher than its previous
close at 1,158.1.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,157.1 per
U.S. dollar, flat from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,156.2 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.76%. 
    
** The KOSPI has risen 0.09% so far this year, and gained 0.7%
in the previous 30 trading sessions.
    
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 241.25 million shares and, of the total traded
issues of 902, the number of advancing shares was 533.
    
** The won has lost 0.1% against the dollar so far this year.
    
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.02 points to 110.68, while the
3-month Certificate of Deposit rate was quoted at 1.53%.
    
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.5
basis points to 1.322%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell
by 1.3 basis points to 1.625%.    

($1 = 1,156.8000 won)

 (Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
 ((hayoung.choi@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1468;))