Seoul: Stocks begin 2022 with mild gains on trade data boost

[SEOUL] South Korean shares closed higher on Monday (Jan 3), in their first trading day of 2022, as retail and foreign investors bought stocks after solid trade and PMI data. The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi closed up 11.12 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 2,988.77, after having gained as much as 1.11 per cent.

Among the heavyweights, chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.38 per cent, while biopharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics and platform company Kakao added 0.89 per cent and 1.78 per cent, respectively.

Aiding sentiment, South Korea's December exports data expanded 18.3 per cent year on year to a record US$60.7 billion, marking a 14th straight month of expansion, while the pace of growth for the whole of 2021 marked the fastest in 11 years.

Meanwhile, separate data showed the country's factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in 3 months.

"The cheering "New Year" mood lifted Kospi, with December exports data showing a solid growth... Eyes are on Chinese manufacturing PMI and US ISM manufacturing data due later this week," said Na Jeong-hwan, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.

On the main Kospi board, foreigners bought net 270.4 billion won (S$306 million) worth of shares.

The won ended at 1,191.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, down 0.25 per cent.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,192.0 per dollar, down 0.3 per cent, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,192.4.

In money and debt markets, March futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.24 point to 108.87.

The benchmark 10-year yield rose by 6.6 basis points to 2.321 per cent.

REUTERS