Seoul: Stocks rise over 1% to record high; won up

[SEOUL] At 0631 GMT, the KOSPI was up 33.04 points or 1.31 per cent at 2,556.47, a record closing high. Strong foreign demand boosted the index.

The won was quoted at 1,113.47 per US dollar, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,109.87 per USdollar. The currency closed at the highest since July 27, helped by strong appetite for local shares from offshore investors.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.83 per cent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains. Japanese stocks rose 1.86 per cent.

At the close of trading the previous session, the KOSPI was up 24.52 per cent so far this year, and up 6.97 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 intraday trading volume on the KOSPI index was 356,825,000 shares, and of the total traded issues of 873, the number of advancing shares was 450. Foreigners were net buyers of 305,919 million won worth of shares.

The US dollar has fallen 7.69 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1107.3 per USdollar on March 27, 2017 and low is 1211.8 on Jan 3, 2017.

In money and debt markets, the Korean three-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.4 per cent, while the benchmark three-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.163 per cent, higher than the previous day's 2.16 per cent.

REUTERS