South Korean shares rise on chip gains, set for weekly fall
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets: South Korean shares rose on Friday, led by gains in heavyweight chipmakers, but were still set for a third straight weekly loss amid worries about high bond yields. The benchmark KOSPI was up 55.78 points, or 0.85%, at 6,635.26, as of 0152 GMT. The index has fallen 2.1% so far this week. Wall Street rallied on Thursday as investors curbed their…
South Korean shares experienced a rise on Friday, driven by gains in major chip manufacturers, but were poised for a third consecutive weekly decline due to concerns over rising bond yields. The KOSPI index increased by 55.78 points, or 0.85%, to reach 6,635.26 as of 01:52 GMT. This week, the index has declined by 2.1%. Wall Street experienced a rally on Thursday as investors scaled back their expectations of further interest rate hikes following remarks from US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.
Waller suggested that he would be in favor of maintaining the Fed funds target rate steady if economic data indicated a reduction in inflationary pressures. Analyst Han Ji-young from Kiwoom Securities emphasized that market participants are closely monitoring whether the surge in bond yields will maintain its current level. Among the top-performing companies in the KOSPI were Samsung Electronics, which increased by 1.20%, and SK Hynix, which rose by 1.94%, mirroring overnight gains in their US counterparts.
Other notable movements included a 0.82% drop in LG Energy Solution and a 0.52% decrease in Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. POSCO Holdings suffered a 1.17% decrease, while Samsung BioLogics fell by 1.42%. Out of the 903 traded issues, 450 rose, while 399 declined. Foreign investors netted a buying position of 204.6 billion won ($150.72 million) during the trading session.
The Korean won was trading at 1,359.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, representing a 0.23% decrease from its prior close at 1,356.2. In the money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds remained flat at 103.14. The yield on the most actively traded three-year Korean treasury bond remained steady at 3.892%, while the benchmark 10-year yield decreased by 0.7 basis points to 4.356%.
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