South Korea: Stocks hit intraday record, won at near 14-mth high against dollar

[SEOUL] South Korea's Kospi stock index rose on Friday. The Korean won fell while bond yields rose.

At 01.04 GMT, the Kospi was up 21.16 points or 0.83 per cent at 2,555.95. The index reached intraday record high, lifted by strong gains on the Wall Street overnight and increased confidence for tax reform in the U.S. Congress.

** The won was quoted at 1,096.3 per U.S. dollar, down 0.01 per cent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,093.35 per dollar.

The won was quoted at 1,096.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , where it ended the previous session at 1,101.4. The currency extended gains to a near 14-month high as traders believed the won's strength would continue for a while. Global risk appetite rose on strong US stocks, providing an additional boost.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.41 per cent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains . Japanese stocks rose 1.78 per cent.

The KOSPI is up around 25.1 per cent so far this year, and up by 6.84 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 111,958,000 shares. A total of 864 issues traded, 399 of which rose.

Foreigners were net buyers of 159,594 million won worth of shares.

The US dollar has fallen 9.12 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,095.16 per dollar on November 16 2017 and low is 1,211.8 on January 3 2017.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.03 points to 107.84.

REUTERS