Seoul: Stocks hit over 6-month high as slowdown worries ease

[SEOUL] South Korean shares extended gains on Monday to reach the highest level since Oct 10, 2018 as positive US corporate results soothed investors' concerns over economic slowdown.

The Korean won strengthened on revived risk appetite and the benchmark bond yield rose.

The Seoul stock market's main Kospi rose 16.74 points or 0.75 per cent to 2,250.19 points.

Shares of Asiana Airlines and its affiliates surged 30 per cent after local media reported that its parent group had agreed to sell a stake in the country's No 2 airline.

Local stocks exposed to K-pop boyband BTS jumped as they make their comeback after eight months on Friday, with their new music video drawing more than 100 million views on YouTube, 37 hours after the release.

Foreigners were net buyers of 126.3 billion won worth of shares on the main board.

The won quoted at 1,134.9 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.4 per cent higher than its previous close at 1,139.4.

In offshore trading, the won quoted at 1,133.9 per US dollar, while in one-year non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,132.5 per US dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.69 per cent , after US stocks closed firmer.

Japanese stocks rose 1.45 per cent. The Kospi has risen 10.25 per cent so far this year, and rose 1.7 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

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 203.02 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 893, the number of advancing shares was 468.

The won has lost 1.7 per cent against the US dollar this year.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.10 points to 109.42. The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.3 basis points to 1.756 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 4.4 basis points to 1.925 per cent.

REUTERS