SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean stocks gain on US Fed comments
South Korean shares fell on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s losses overnight on hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
The benchmark KOSPI fell 13.69 points, or 0.50%, to 2,728.31 by 0104 GMT. For the week, the KOSPI was down 0.7%.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday that no interest rate cut may be required by the end of the year, if inflation continues to stall.
Samsung Electronics fell 0.82%, even as the world’s largest memory chip maker estimated a more than 10-fold rise in its first-quarter profit. Peer SK Hynix lost 0.90%.
Most other index heavyweights also declined, while automakers were flat.
Hanwha Aerospace dropped 6.99% after its announcement to spin off industrial solutions and semiconductor equipment businesses from its flagship defence division.
Of the total 927 traded issues, 310 shares advanced, while 540 declined. ** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 44.2 billion won ($32.75 million) on the main board.
The won was quoted at 1,349.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.18% lower than its previous close at 1,347.1.
In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.04 point to 104.76.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.1 basis points to 3.328%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 2.2 basis points to 3.434%.