* KOSPI index steady,does the confession for before or after the word foregoing foreigners buy * Korean won drops versus U.S. dollar * South Korea bond yields down SEOUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index traded flat on Thursday after Apple Inc cut its revenue forecast, which heightened worries about a global economic slowdown. The Korean won and bond yields fell.
** At 0207 GMT, the KOSPI was steady at 2,013.74. Earlier in the session, it hit 1,997.73, its lowest since Oct. 30, 2018.
** Stagnant readings of Chinese factory activity and Apple's forecast cut has spurred a sell-off, said Kim Yong-goo, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment.
** Apple Inc on Wednesday took the rare step of cutting its quarterly sales forecast, with Chief Executive Tim Cook blaming slowing iPhone sales in China, whose economy has been dragged down by uncertainty around U.S.-China trade relations.
** The news sent stocks of South Korean chip giants tumbling. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined on dim outlook for memory chip industry.
** The founder of South Korean gaming company Nexon is set to sell a controlling stake worth around $9 billion in Nexon's holding firm NXC Corp. Nexon is listed on the Tokyo stock market.
** Shares of Nexon affiliates, including Nexon GT Co Ltd and Nat Games Co Ltd , jumped as much as 30 percent on the media report.
** The won was quoted at 1,125.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.6 percent weaker than its previous close at 1,119.
** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,125.8 per U.S. dollar, down 0.6 percent from the previous day, while in one-year non-deliverable forwards it was being transacted at 1,106.9 per dollar.
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.29 percent, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild gains . Japanese stocks are closed on Thursday.
** The KOSPI is down around 1.5 percent so far this year, and down by 3.94 percent in the previous 30 days. South Korean financial markets were closed on Monday and Tuesday. Markets resumed trade on Jan. 2, 2019.
** The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend yield is 1.28 percent and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04 trillion won.
** The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 135,236,000 shares and, of the total traded issues of 885, the number of advancing shares was 287.
** Foreigners were net buyers of 23,725 million won worth of shares.
** The U.S dollar rose 1.12 percent against the won so far this year. The won's high for the year is 1,114.7 per dollar on Jan. 2, 2019, and low is 1,126.62 on Jan. 3, 2019.
Story continues
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.06 points to 109.35.
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was quoted at 1.93 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean treasury bond yielded 1.789 percent, lower than the previous day's 1.80 percent.
(Reporting by Hayoung Choi, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
View comments
