Seoul: Stocks climb as trade worries ease, won gains

[SEOUL] South Korea's KOSPI stock index closed higher on Friday as investors risk appetite recovered after Wall Street scored all-time highs overnight on expectation trade tariffs to have a softer impact on global growth than feared. The won gained, while bond yields fell.

While third-quarter earnings forecast by domestic companies is expected to be good, investors seem to have taken a wait-and-see approach before the tariffs set by both the United States and China take effect around Sept 24, during the national holiday, said Kim Young-hwan, an analyst at KB Securities.

The KOSPI closed 15.72 points, or 0.68 per cent, higher at 2,339.17. For the week, the benchmark index climbed 0.9 per cent, its second straight weekly gain.

Chipmaker SK Hynix fell 3 per cent after Micron Technology Inc forecast first-quarter revenue below estimate.

South Korean companies which used to have a branch in the Kaesong Industrial Complex jumped on optimism over the resumption of the joint industrial zone in North Korea. Shinwon Corp and In The F Co Ltd rose 9.6 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively, while jewellery brand J Estina Co Ltd closed 6.6 per cent higher.

The won was quoted at 1,115.3 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.46 per cent firmer than its previous close at 1,120.4. It rose 0.1 per cent on a weekly basis.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,115.21 per US dollar, up 0.08 perc ent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,098 per dollar.

REUTERS

BT is now on Telegram!

For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes