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KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
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Korean won weakens against dollar
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South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
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For the midday report, please click SEOUL, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
** South Korean shares rebounded to close higher on Tuesday,
with heavyweight chipmakers, battery makers and online platform
operators leading the gains, although there was some caution
ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's interview.
** The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield
rose.
** The benchmark KOSPI ended 13.52 points, or 0.55%,
higher at 2,451.71. On Monday, the index had dropped 1.7% — the
biggest decline so far this year.
** "A wait-and-see mood prevailed ahead of Powell's
interview, with focus on how much his tone changes from last
week, when he was more dovish than expectations," said Kim
Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** South Korea unveiled details of a long-touted plan to
expand its currency spot and swap markets to offshore players as
it strives to make its stock and bond markets more attractive to
global investors.
** Technology giant Samsung Electronics rose
0.49%, and peer SK Hynix gained 1.91%.
** Battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped
3.24%, with its parent LG Chem rising 3.50%. Peer
Samsung SDI added 1.43%, although SK Innovation dropped 4.86% on disappointment over a delay in its
battery unit profits.
** Instant messenger giant Kakao rose 4.29%
after it inked a deal to acquire stakes in SM Entertainment to become its second-largest shareholder. Search
engine Naver added 1.86%.
** Including those heavyweights, only 376 shares advanced
among 934 traded issues.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 60.2 billion won ($47.94 million).
** The won ended onshore trade 0.20% lower at
1,255.3 per dollar.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield
rose by 5.3 basis points to 3.336%, while the benchmark 10-year
yield rose by 2.2 basis points to 3.303%.
($1 = 1,255.6600 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee)
