Seoul: Stocks edge down, won slips on broad US dollar strength

[SEOUL] South Korea's Kospi stock index weakened on Wednesday. The Korean won extended losses on the local platform while bond yields were unchanged. At 0630 GMT, the Kospi was down 6.31 points or 0.25 per cent at 2,515.43.

The won was quoted at 1,069.3 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.62 per cent weaker than its previous close at 1,062.7. The currency lost more ground later in the session on broad US dollar strength.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,068 per US dollar, down 0.41 percent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it fetched 1,060.14 per US dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.28 percent, after US stocks pulled back in the previous session. Japanese stocks weakened 0.35 per cent.

The Kospi is up around 2.2 per cent so far this year, and up by 1.83 per cent in the previous 30 days. The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend yield is 1.28 per cent and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04 trillion won (S$1.55 trillion).

The trading volume during the session on the Kospi index was 333,496,000 shares, and there were 340 advancing shares of the total traded issues of 884

Foreigners were net buyers of 70,897 million won worth of shares.

The US dollar has risen 0.15 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,056.67 per US dollar on Jan 14 and low is 1,073.2 on Jan 11.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.02 point to 107.61.

The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.66 per cent, unchanged from its previous close, while the benchmark 3-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.225 per cent, barely changed from the previous day's 2.23 per cent.

REUTERS