Seoul: Stocks skid to 2-month low; won steady

[SEOUL] South Korea's KOSPI stock index weakened on Thursday. The Korean won held steady in the local platform while bond yields rose.

At 0632 GMT, the KOSPI was down 12.39 points or 0.50 per cent at 2,461.98. The benchmark index finished trade at two-month low weighed by US policy risks, leading foreign investors to become big net sellers.

The won was quoted at 1,093.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.02 per cent firmer than its previous close at 1,093.7.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,092.61 per US dollar, up 0.03 per cent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,087.55 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.08 per cent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild losses. Japanese stocks rose 1.45 per cent.

The KOSPI is up around 22.1 per cent so far this year, and down by 0.73 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 396,854,000 shares, and 169 of the 875 traded isssues advanced. Foreigners were net sellers of 466,025 million won worth of shares.

The US dollar has fallen 9.41 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,075.71 per dollar on Nov 29, 2017 and low is 1,211.8 on Jan 3, 2017.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds were unchanged at 108.25.

The Korean three-month certificate of deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.66 per cent compared with a previous close of 1.66 per cent, while the benchmark three-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.091 per cent, higher than the previous day's 2.08 per cent.

REUTERS