Seoul: Stocks end 7-day rally but mark best week in 2 months

[SEOUL] South Korean shares ended a 7-day rally on Friday (Dec 10) as investors shied away from riskier assets ahead of key US inflation data, but the benchmark marked its best week in 2 months. The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The KOSPI closed down 19.34 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 3,010.23, snapping 7 straight sessions of gains.

The benchmark index gained 1.41 per cent for the week, the sharpest in 8. It added 1.09 per cent a week earlier.

Tech shares led Friday's decline, with chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix falling 1.66 per cent and 2.43 per cent, respectively, while platform company Naver also slid 1.13 per cent.

Steelmaker POSCO dropped 4.58 per cent after it announced plans to split off its steel operations and become a holding company.

Closely-watched US November inflation figures are due later in the day, with a Reuters poll expecting a 6.8 per cent rise, the fastest pace in 31 years. The Federal Reserve is expected to offer clues on the timing of rate hikes at its meeting next week.

Meanwhile, South Korea reported 7,022 new coronavirus cases for Thursday (Dec 9), with a total of 63 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.

On the main KOSPI board, foreigners were net sellers of 282.2 billion won (S$326.6 million) worth of shares.

The won ended at 1,181.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.58 per cent lower than its previous close.

It edged down 0.1 per cent for the week, following the previous week's 1.12 per cent gain.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,180.8, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,180.7.

In money and debt markets, December futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.11 point to 109.08.

The benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.8 basis point to 2.196 per cent.

REUTERS