Seoul: Stocks, won rise as US-China trade worries ease

[SEOUL] South Korea's KOSPI stock index rose on Tuesday and the South Korean won extended gains on higher risk appetite, after trade tensions between the United States and China showed signs of easing. At 0630 GMT, the KOSPI ended higher 14.98 points or 0.61 per cent at 2,452.06.

The won was quoted at 1,070.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 1.01 per cent firmer than its previous close at 1,081.1.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,070.1 per US dollar, up 0.43 per cent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it fetched 1,054.9 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.96 per cent, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with gains. Japanese stocks rose 2.65 per cent.

The KOSPI is down around 1.2 per cent so far this year, and down by 1.69 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 326,893,000 shares, and of the total traded issues of 888, the number of advancing shares was 599.

Foreigners were net buyers of 14,168 million won worth of shares. The US dollar has risen 0.35 per cent against the won this year. The won's high for the year is 1,056.67 per dollar on Jan 14, 2018 and low is 1,098.4 on Feb 6, 2018.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.01 points to 107.6. 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 2.235 per cent, lower than the previous day's 2.24 per cent.

REUTERS