South Korean shares rise for seventh session as chip stocks rally

KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

Korean won weakens against dollar

South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, – Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose for a seventh straight session on Wednesday, as chip stocks followed their U.S. peers higher. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI was up 45.68 points, or 1.74%, at 2,672.49, as of 0155 GMT.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 2.81% and peer SK Hynix gained 4.05%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 5.42%.

** Shares of chipmaker Intel jumped 10.1% overnight. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Broadcom are eyeing potential deals that would break Intel into two, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

** Hyundai Motor added 1.75% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 1.38%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.22% and up 1.41%, respectively.

** Of the total 939 traded issues, 542 shares advanced, while 333 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 147.7 billion won on the main board on Wednesday.

** The won was quoted at 1,440.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.07% lower than its previous close at 1,439.5.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,440.8 per dollar, flat on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,438.2.

** The KOSPI has risen 11.38% so far this year, and gained 9.5% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The won has gained 2.2% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.01 point to 106.58.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.3 basis point to 2.647%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.6 basis points to 2.893%.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.