Seoul: Stocks deliver first weekly gain in 5

[SEOUL] South Korean shares logged their first weekly gain in 5, as broader Asian peers edged up on Friday (Nov 19) amid investor optimism that the pandemic recovery can weather inflationary pressures.

The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi was up 23.64 points or 0.80 per cent at 2,971.02, as of 6.30 am GMT. For the week, the index gained 0.075 per cent.

Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.42 per cent and peer SK Hynix climbed 1.36 per cent, while LG Chem fell 2.32 per cent and Naver slipped 0.74 per cent.

Foreign investors turned net sellers in the afternoon as most Asian stocks gained, but inflation concerns will linger through next week, said Kim Dae-jun, an analyst at Korea Investment Securities.

South Korea's producer prices index in October posted their sharpest growth in 13 years, central bank data showed on Friday, underlining oil-led inflationary pressure and supporting further policy tightening.

Foreigners were net buyers of 136.5 billion won (S$156.5 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,185.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.41 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,180.4.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,185 per dollar, down 0.2 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,185.6.

The Kospi has risen 3.39 per cent so far this year, and gained 1.3 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 649.17 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 929, the number of advancing shares was 431.

The won weakened 8.4 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

In money and debt markets, December futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.01 point to 108.54.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.7 basis point to 1.960 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 2.9 basis points to 2.367 per cent.

REUTERS