Seoul: Stocks edge up; won follows Asian peers higher

[SEOUL] South Korea's KOSPI stock index rose on Tuesday. The Korean won gained, while bond yields fell. At 0632 GMT, the KOSPI was up 3.06 points or 0.12 per cent at 2,530.73.

The won was quoted at 1,095.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.44 per cent firmer than its previous close at 1,100.6. The currency, along with its Asian peers, gained amid a pullback in the dollar.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,094.82 per US dollar, up 0.11 per cent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,092.78 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.7 per cent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains.

Japanese stocks rose 0.7 per cent.

The KOSPI is up around 24.7 per cent so far this year, and up by 5.56 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. The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 456,058,000 shares, and of the total traded issues of 874, the number of advancing shares was 302. Foreigners were net buyers of 56,078 million won worth of shares.

The U.S dollar has fallen 9.24 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,093.1 per dollar on Nov 17, 2017 and low is 1,211.8 on Jan 3, 2017.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.01 point to 107.95. The Korean three-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.46 per cent, unchanged from the previous close, while the benchmark three-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.154 per cent, lower than the previous day's 2.16 per cent.

REUTERS