Seoul: Stocks rebound on foreign buying, recovery hopes

[SEOUL] South Korean shares jumped over 1 per cent on Friday, following a selloff in the previous session, on foreign buying after Wall Street's overnight rally and as preliminary trade data boosted recovery hopes for the Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The Korean won edged up, and the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi closed up 30.37 points or 1.34 per cent at 2,304.59. The index rose as high as 2.4 per cent but some of the gains were trimmed in late afternoon session.

For the week, it tumbled 4.3 per cent, marking the sharpest fall since late March.

South Korean exports contracted by a smaller percentage of 7 per cent in the first 20 days of August than in July, boosting hopes for a trade-led recovery.

Market volatility has risen as US political uncertainty and surging domestic coronavirus infections weighed, said Seo Sang-young, analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Foreigners were net buyers of 196.5 billion won (S$226.4 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won ended trading at 1,186.3 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.05 per cent higher than its previous close at 1,186.9. The currency slid 0.1 per cent on a weekly basis, snapping a four-week winning streak.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,186.2 per US dollar, down 0.1 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,186.1.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.74 per cent.

In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.13 point to 112.07.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 3.7 basis points to 0.849 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.4 basis points to 1.413 per cent.

REUTERS