ReutersReuters

South Korean shares kick-start week on positive note

Key points:
  • KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
  • Korean won weakens against dollar
  • South Korea benchmark bond yield steady

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on Monday, catching the tailwind from a bounce on Wall Street following strong quarterly results from U.S. technology heavyweights, while investors await cues from major events this week, both at home and abroad.

** The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield was steady.

** The benchmark KOSPI KOSPI was up 15.93 points, or 0.60%, at 2,672.26, as of 0132 GMT.

** Shares of Hyundai Motor 005380 added 1.4% and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270 gained nearly 2%, while search engine Naver 035420 and instant messenger Kakao 035720 were up 0.2% and 1.2%, respectively.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930 edged 0.1% lower, while peer SK Hynix 000660 was trading flat. Shares of battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220 climbed 0.5%.

** On Friday, U.S. stocks rose on a rally in megacap growth stocks following robust earnings from Alphabet GOOG and Microsoft MSFT in addition to moderate inflation data.

** Investor focus across global financial markets will be tuned on the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.

** South Korea's financial regulator is scheduled to unveil detailed guidelines for its corporate reform programme on Thursday, which are expected to include steps companies are encouraged to take to boost shareholder value.

** South Korea's trade figures for April will be released on Wednesday.

** Of the total 930 traded issues, 594 shares advanced, while 266 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 53.3 billion won ($38.52 million) on the main board.

** The won was quoted at 1,381.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform USDKRW, 0.41% lower than its previous close at 1,375.3.

** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds (KTBc1) fell 0.09 point to 103.98.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield climbed 0.4 basis point to 3.552%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.3 basis point to 3.714%.

($1 = 1,383.6300 won)

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