S.Korean stocks, won jump on Sino-U.S. trade truce, oil price gain

SsangyongC&E Co

03/12/2018 07:34

* KOSPI index soars, foreigners buy
    * Korean won gains against dollar
    * South Korea bond yields up
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1Y81I6

    SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  and the won rose
sharply on Monday as a Sino-U.S. trade truce and a rally in oil
prices boosted investor sentiment.
    
    ** China and the United States agreed to halt additional
tariffs in a deal that keeps their trade war from escalating as
the two sides try again to bridge their differences with fresh
talks aimed at reaching a deal within 90 days.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1Y702G
    
    ** Brent futures  LCOc1  rose $2.86 to trade at $62.32 a
barrel, while U.S. crude  CLc1  gained $2.66 to $53.59.
    
    ** South Korean factory activity in November contracted
again after a brief two months of growth, as new export orders
shrank by the most in over five years, a private survey showed
on Monday, a sign of increasing stresses on businesses from a
slow down in the global economy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS7N1DB00Q
    
    ** The KOSPI closed 35.07 points, or 1.67 percent, higher at
2,131.93, boosted by tech giant Samsung Electronics  005930.KS 
and other large caps, including LG Chem  051910.KS  and Posco
 005490.KS . The index posted its biggest gain since Nov 2.
    
    ** The results of the meeting between U.S. President Donald
Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Sunday and the
oil price rally boosted global market, said Lee Kyoung-min, an
analyst with Daishin Securities, adding that the gains would
likely be limited as there has not been any official statement
and details were not clear.
    
    ** However, the possibility of a second United States-North
Korea summit and the North Korean leader's visit to Seoul will
likely boost the market, Lee added.
    
    ** Cyclical stocks jumped, with steelmaker Posco and LG
Chem, the country's biggest chemical firm, gaining 4.9 percent
and 5.6 percent, respectively. Shipbuilders and
construction-related firms also rose. Doosan Heavy Industries
and Construction Co Ltd  034020.KS  and Ssangyong Cement
Industry Co Ltd  003410.KS  ended 2.6 percent and 4.1 percent
higher, respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1Y80KX
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,110.7 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.95 percent firmer than its
previous close at 1,121.2, posting its biggest gain since Nov 2.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at
1,109.97 per U.S. dollar, up 0.85 percent from the previous day,
while in one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was
being asked at 1,091.15 per dollar.
    
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 2.14 percent, after U.S. stocks
ended the previous session with mild gains  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese
stocks  .N225  rose 1 percent.
    
    ** The KOSPI is down around 15.0 percent so far this year,
and up by 2.75 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 428,908,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 894, the number of advancing shares was 648.
    
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of 322,737 million won worth
of shares.
    
    ** The U.S dollar has risen 4.09 percent against the won
this year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on
April 2, 2018 and low is 1,146.26 on Oct. 11, 2018.
    
    ** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.06 points to 108.88.
    
    ** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate
was quoted at 1.9 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 1.923 percent, higher than the previous
day's 1.90 percent.

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