South Korea stocks pull back from record high, tracking Wall Street

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares pulled back from a record-high on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street losses on uncertainties about Senate runoffs in Georgia. Both the won and the benchmark bond yield weakened.

The benchmark KOSPI edged down 0.29 points, or 0.03%, to 2,943.70 by 0231 GMT, after falling as much as 0.77% in early trade.

Major heavyweights were trading mixed: Chip giant Samsung Electronics was falling 0.7%, while its peer SK Hynix jumped 1.98%.

The future of Democrat President-elect Joe Biden's agenda hinges on Tuesday's two Senate runoff races in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew, Iranian media said on Monday, amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks due to US sanctions.

South Korea reported 715 new coronavirus cases for Monday, much less than 1,020 a day earlier and from the peak in recent weeks, as the health ministry sees the worst of the third wave of coronavirus infections being contained.

The country's president said the government will take more measures to stabilise the housing market and to support those vulnerable to job insecurity.

The won was quoted at 1,084.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.20% lower than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,084.2, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,083.4. In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.05 points to 111.57.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.7 basis points to 0.946%.