[SEOUL] South Korea's KOSPI stock index and the won gained on Monday as inter-Korea sentiment improved and on hopes of a summit between North Korea and the US, while bond yields rose. At 0633 GMT, the KOSPI was up 18.16 points or 0.74 per cent at 2,478.96, led by large-cap construction and steel shares related to potential inter-Korean economic projects. Hyundai Engineering & Construction surged 30 per cent, while Hyundai Elevator gained 29 per cent.
The won was quoted at 1,074.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.35 per cent firmer than its previous close of 1,078. In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,073.05 per US dollar, up 0.4 per cent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,056.95 per dollar.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.39 per cent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild losses. Japanese stocks rose 0.13 per cent. The KOSPI is down around 0.3 per cent so far this year, and up by 0.41 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. Trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 702,198,000 shares and of the total traded 887 issues, the number of advancing shares was 603.
Foreigners were net sellers of 161,453 million won worth of shares. The U.S dollar has risen 0.63 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. The Korean three-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.65 per cent compared with the previous close of 1.65 per cent, while the benchmark three-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.211 per cent, higher than the previous day's 2.20 per cent.
REUTERS