Seoul: Stocks post best day in 7 months on hopes of easing Sino-US tension

[SEOUL] South Korean shares snapped three days of losses and marked their best session in nearly seven months on Thursday, boosted by hopes of easing Sino-US tension and progress on the debt-ceiling impasse in Washington. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark Kospi closed up 51.15 points, or 1.76 per cent, at 2,959.46, after it declined 1.82 per cent on Wednesday.

The United States and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year, a senior US administration official said on Wednesday.

Among heavyweights, chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.42 per cent ahead of its third-quarter preliminary results on Friday, while platform companies Naver and Kakao surged 5.50 per cent and 5.75 per cent, respectively.

Foreigners were net sellers of 106.6 billion won (S$121.5 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won ended at 1,190.4 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.16% higher than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,191.0 per US dollar, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,191.5.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.06 points to 108.99.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.2 basis points to 1.702 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.4 basis points to 2.386 per cent.

REUTERS