South Korea: Stocks, won gain on political thaw in Korean peninsula

[SEOUL] South Korea's Kospi stock index rose on Monday and the Korean won gained strength in the local platform. Seoul's financial markets were buoyed by high expectations for total denuclearisation in the Korean peninsula following a summit between leaders from the two Koreas on Friday.

At 0122 GMT, the Kospi was up 9.85 points or 0.40 per cent at 2,502.25.

The won was quoted at 1,067.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.85 per cent firmer than its previous close at 1,076.6.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,068.5 per US dollar, down 0.17 per cent from the previous session, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being asked at 1,051.35 per dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.50 per cent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains.

The Kospi is up around 1 per cent so far this year, and rose 0.06 percent 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 296,377,000 shares, and, of the total traded issues of 877, the number of advancing shares was 413.

Foreigners were net buyers of 64,408 million won worth of shares.

The US dollar has risen 0.22 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 February 6 this year.

In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds held steady at 107.76.

The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.65 per cent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean treasury bond yielded 2.21 per cent, higher than the previous day's 2.20 per cent.

REUTERS