Seoul: Stocks fall on firmer bond yields, set to post weekly loss

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell on Friday to be on track for their first weekly loss in three, as a spike in global bond yields weighed, with sentiment further dented by Sino-US tensions. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The Kospi slipped 27.08 points or 0.9 per cent to 3,038.93 by 0153 GMT, having fallen as much as 1.4 per cent. The benchmark index is set to record a weekly decline of 0.8 per cent.

Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix slid 1.1 per cent and 2.5 per cent each, while battery maker LG Chem and internet giant Naver dropped 2.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

The benchmark US 10-year yield spiked to 1.754 per cent for the first time since January 2020, even as the Federal Reserve repeated its pledge to keep interest rates near zero through 2024.

The United States and China levelled sharp rebukes of each others' policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration on Thursday, with deeply strained relations of the two global rivals on rare public display during the meeting's opening session in Alaska.

Foreigners were net sellers of 259 billion won (S$307.7 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,132.9 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, down 0.8 per cent.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,131.6, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,131.6.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 3.9 basis points to 1.17 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.6 basis points to 2.186 per cent.

REUTERS