Seoul: Stocks cut losses, won posts fresh 3-1/2 year closing high

[SEOUL] South Korea's KOSPI stock index closed slightly lower on Tuesday, recovering from a more than 1 per cent decline in early trade. The South Korean won also came off early falls and posted a fresh 3-1/2 year closing high, while bond yields fell.

At 0630 GMT, the KOSPI was down 1.73 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 2,442.43. Stock purchases by individual investors and domestic institutions helped the index trim early falls. The won was quoted at 1,054.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.23 per cent firmer than its previous close of 1,056.6. The currency gained strength as Seoul stocks recovered, marking its fourth consecutive sessions of gains.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,054.25 per US dollar, up 0.18 per cent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being asked at 1,038.5 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.10 per cent, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with losses. Japanese stocks weakened 0.45 per cent. The KOSPI is down around 0.9 per cent so far this year, and up by 0.92 per cent in the previous 30 days.

The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend yield is 1.28 per cent and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04 trillion won.

The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 487,473,000 shares, and of the total traded issues of 886, the number of advancing shares was 399.

Foreigners were net sellers of 96,428 million won worth of shares. The US dollar has fallen 1.14 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,053.55 per dollar on April 2, 2018 and low is 1,098.4 on Feb 6, 2018.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.1 points to 107.8. The Korean three-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.65 per cent, while the benchmark three-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.195 per cent, lower than the previous day's 2.23 per cent.

REUTERS