Seoul: Stocks edge higher on foreign buying

[SEOUL] South Korean stocks rose on Monday as foreign investors bought local shares for an eighth straight session, although a ban by China on crypto trading weighed on the market. The Korean won weakened slightly, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi rose 8.40 points or 0.27 per cent to 3,133.64 by 6.32am GMT.

Among heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.52 per cent and peer SK Hynix climbed 0.48 per cent, while LG Chem advanced 1.18 per cent and Naver fell 0.62 per cent.

Foreign buying drove the Kospi index higher but a decline in Chinese stock markets capped the gains, said Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

China's most powerful regulators on Friday intensified a crackdown on cryptocurrencies with a blanket ban on all crypto transactions and mining, hitting bitcoin and other major coins and pressuring crypto and blockchain-related stocks.

Foreigners were net buyers of 337.2 billion won (S$387.7 million) worth of South Korean shares on the main board.

Shares of Shinwon, a South Korean apparel maker with a presence in the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea, closed up 16.2 per cent as hopes for inter-Korean cooperation rose over the weekend.

The won was quoted at 1,176.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.03 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,176.5.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,176.9 per dollar, up 0.2 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,177.1.

The Kospi has risen 9.05 per cent so far this year, but lost 4.1 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.8 basis point to 1.566 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.8 basis points to 2.169 per cent.

REUTERS