Kospi slips a bit as Greek bond yields soar
With yields on Greek bonds jumping back over 7 percent and magnifying European risk, Korean stocks edged down a bit yesterday.
The benchmark Kospi finished at 1918.83, down 7.08 points, or 0.37 percent.
Institutional investors scooped up shares, buying 71.6 billion won ($67.45 million) worth.
Foreign investors continued to offload their holdings.
Trade volume was moderate at 302.1 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won, with 342 gainers, 470 losers and 67 unchanged.
Market behemoth Samsung Electronics fell 0.89 percent, while the CJ jumped 5.69 percent to lead advances.
Hyundai Motor lost 4 percent, while Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Heavy Industries both were down more than 3 percent. Samsung C&T Corporation, Posco, SK Telecom and KT showed slight gains.
The won appreciated 0.1 percent to close at 1,061.60 per dollar in Seoul. It touched 1,057.35 earlier, the strongest level since Sept. 30. One month implied volatility, a gauge of expected swings in the exchange rate used to price options, was little changed at 7.87 percent.
“The dollar is facing a correction as data released from the U.S. yesterday weakened expectations for early interest rate hikes,” said Son Eun-jeong, a Seoul-based currency analyst for Woori Futures Co. “A decline in stocks on risk-averse sentiment will limit the won’s gains.”
Global funds sold more Korean equities than they bought for the 10th consecutive trading session, pulling more than $2 billion out over that period, exchange data show.
The Bank of Korea lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2 percent yesterday, matching a record low. The decision was forecast by 12 out of 22 analysts surveyed.
Government bonds advanced, with the yield on notes due June 2017 falling two basis points to 2.27 percent, Korea Exchange prices show.
The yield on 10-year debt dropped eight basis points to this year’s record low of 2.74 percent.
BY KWON SANG-SOO, BLOOMBERG [sakwon80@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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