South Korea stocks hit record high on final trading day of the year

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares touched a record high on Wednesday, the final trading day of the year, driven by Samsung Electronics' gains and retail investors' buying. Both the won and the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 27.52 points, or 0.98%, to 2,848.03 by 0253 GMT, extending gains to a fifth straight day.

Shares of Samsung Electronics rose as high as 2.43%, after sliding 0.51% a day earlier on ex-dividend trading.

Investors await whether the US Senate would authorise additional stimulus checks.

Moderna Inc said on Tuesday it was in discussions with the South Korean government to potentially provide 40 million or more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, boosting recovery hopes.

South Korea's trade data is due on Jan. 1, which could provide additional signals that the economy is on recovery track.

The nation's financial markets will be closed from Thursday, and reopen on Jan. 4.

Foreigners were net sellers of 74.1 billion won ($68.24 million) worth of shares on the main board, while retail investors purchased net 161.6 billion won.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,086.5 per dollar, up 0.4% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,085.9.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.04 points to 111.45.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.0 basis points to 0.992%.