- KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
- Korean won strengthens against U.S. dollar
- South Korea benchmark bond yield rises
SEOUL, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares gained for a second straight session on Wednesday, as chip heavyweights followed their U.S. peers higher and investors sought riskier assets despite surging Omicron cases around the world. The Korean won and the benchmark bond yield both rose.
** By 0206 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI climbed 5.13 points, or 0.17%, to 2,980.16, after Tuesday's 0.41% gain.
** Chip giants extended gains, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rising 1.28% and 2.01%, respectively, on optimistic sector-wide outlook. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index gained 3.35%.
** U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday more federal vaccination and testing sites to tackle a surge in COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant, but reassured that those who are inoculated can gather for the holidays.
** "Even as worries about the spread of the Omicron variant persist, markets are rather focusing on positive news such as Biden saying no to lockdowns," said Bookook Securities analyst Lee Won.
** On the main KOSPI board, foreigners were net buyers of 112.3 billion won ($94.35 million) worth of shares.
** The won was quoted at 1,190.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.21% higher than its previous close.
** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,190.3 per dollar, unchanged from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,189.8.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.02 point to 109.22.
** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.2 basis points to 1.741%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.7 basis points to 2.132%.
($1 = 1,190.2600 won)
Reporting by Joori Roh; Additional reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
Source: Reuters