S.Korean shares edge higher on China's factory data, post weekly loss

OSANGJAIEL Co

15/05/2020 08:32

* KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
    * Korean won weakens versus U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2CX0R6

    SEOUL, May 15 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:
    
** South Korean shares edged higher on Friday as Chinese factory
data showed signs of a recovery in the world's second-largest
economy, although simmering Sino-U.S. tensions capped gains.
 
** The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI  .KS11  closed up 2.32
points, or 0.12%, to 1,927.28. But it dropped 1% for the week,
its second straight weekly loss, having rebounded sharply in
April from coronavirus-driven routs.
 
** China's factory output rose for the first time this year as
the world's second-largest economy slowly emerged from its
coronavirus lockdown, although consumption remained depressed
amid increased job losses.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2CX0PK
 
** U.S. President Donald Trump signalled a further deterioration
of his relationship with China over the novel coronavirus,
saying he has no interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping
right now and going so far as to suggest he could even cut ties
with the world's second largest economy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2CW0TS
 
** South Korea's finance ministry pledged on Friday to introduce
more measures to minimize the employment shock from the COVID-19
pandemic, saying risks to the economy were intensifying as
domestic and global demand slump.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2CX055
 
** South Korea reported 27 new coronavirus cases on Friday amid
the country's efforts to contain an outbreak centred around bars
and nightclubs in Seoul after weeks of nearly no new domestic
cases.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2CW0ZI
 
** Stocks recovered from early losses after better-than-expected
factory data from China, South Korea's largest trading partner,
said Daeshin Securities' analyst Lee Kyoung-min, adding that a
sharp increase in institutional investors' equity purchases
buoyed the index.
 
** Foreigners were net sellers of 442.5 billion won ($359.44
million) worth of shares on the main board.
 
** The won closed trading at 1,231.0 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.24% lower than its previous
close at 1,228.0.
 
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,230.8 per
dollar, down 0.3% from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
 KRW1MNDFOR=  was quoted at 1,230.7.
 
** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 850.91 million shares. Of the total traded issues of
896, the number of advancing shares was 492.
 
** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  fell 0.01 point to 112.07.
 
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.5
basis point to 0.876%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by
0.4 basis point to 1.386%.

($1 = 1,231.0900 won)

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Aditya Soni)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +822 6936 0034;))