Seoul: Shares post biggest weekly fall in three as global virus woes weigh

[SEOUL] South Korean shares posted their sharpest weekly fall in three on Friday as a resurgence in Covid-19 cases across Europe and the US, and fading hopes for a US stimulus package hit sentiment. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

Stocks fell sharply in afternoon trade due to concerns that a second wave of Covid-19 cases could tamper economic recovery in the US and Europe, said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 0.83 per cent and SK Hynix declined 2.07 per cent.

South Korea reported 47 new coronavirus cases as of Thursday midnight, marking the smallest daily cases since Sept 29.

At close, the benchmark Kospi fell 19.68 points or 0.83 per cent to 2,341.53. For the week, the Kospi dropped 2.1 per cent, logging the sharpest weekly decline in three.

Foreigners were net sellers of 173.1 billion won (S$205.2 million) worth of shares on the main board.

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The won was quoted at 1,147.4 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.37 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,143.2.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,146.2 per dollar, down 0.1 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,146.0.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.30 per cent.

The Kospi has risen 6.55 per cent so far this year, and gained 0.3 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 908.04 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 905, the number of advancing shares was 239.

The won has gained 0.8 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.2 basis point to 0.883 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.7 basis point to 1.489 per cent.

REUTERS