Seoul: Stocks end flat, US CPI data in focus ahead of Fed meet

[SEOUL] South Korean shares ended nearly flat on Monday, as earlier losses due to inflation fears were offset by foreign buying, while investors awaited US inflation data and next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The won fell, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The Kospi ended up 2.10 points or 0.07 per cent at 3,127.86, following a 0.36 per cent gain clocked in the previous session.

Among heavyweights, chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose 1.33 per cent and 1.43 per cent, respectively, while platform giant Kakao fell 4.23 per cent.

Foreigners were net buyers of 139.5 billion won (S$159.3 million) worth of shares on the main board.

Friday's data showed US producer prices increased solidly in August, indicating that high inflation is likely to persist for a while, with supply chains remaining tight as the pandemic drags on.

Investors are eyeing the US consumer prices data on Tuesday, which is expected to show core inflation easing, while retail sales data on Thursday could show another decline.

Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet on Sept 21-22, with investors pondering the timing of a tapering of Federal Reserve's bond-buying programme.

The won ended at 1,176 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.59 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,169.1.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,175.7 per dollar, down 0.5 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,176.2.

In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.05 point to 110.17.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.7 basis points to 1.519 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.9 basis points to 2.027 per cent.

REUTERS