Seoul: Shares snap nine-day winning streak on Fed caution

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell on Thursday after nine straight sessions of gains, as a sober economic outlook from the US Federal Reserve outweighed optimism over trade data that suggested a recovery in global demand.

As of 6.30am GMT (2.30pm SGT), the Seoul stock market's main Kospi fell 18.91 points or 0.86 per cent to 2,176.78.

"Comments out of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting weren't entirely pessimistic but it quelled expectations of further gains and some were seen profit-taking," said Na Jeong-hwan, an analyst at DS Investment & Securities.

South Korea's exports for the first 10 days of June soared 20.2 per cent from the same period a year earlier, raising hopes for a firm recovery in shipments for the trade-reliant economy as many countries lift stringent coronavirus lockdown measures.

The Fed projected the US economy to shrink 6.5 per cent in 2020 and the unemployment rate to be 9.3 per cent at year's end.

Latin America's coronavirus crisis reached a grim new milestone on Wednesday with total deaths exceeding 70,000, according to a Reuters count, as Mexico hit a daily record for confirmed infections.

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Foreigners were net sellers of 116.1 billion won (S$134.9 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,196.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.43 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,191.2.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,197 per US dollar, down 0.5 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,196.6 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.66 per cent, after Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.04 per cent. Japanese stocks fell 2.82 per cent.

The Kospi has fallen 0.95 per cent so far this year, but gained 16.2 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 813.8 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 902, the number of advancing shares was 218.

The won has lost 3.3 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.3 basis points to 0.837 per cent in late afternoon trade, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.6 basis points to 1.381 per cent.

REUTERS