South Korean shares notch record close as financials jump

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:  

• South Korean shares closed at a record high on Friday, as financial firms rallied on optimism around the domestic market after the benchmark hit a key 5,000 mark.
• The benchmark KOSPI ended 37.54 points, or 0.76%, higher at 4,990.07, its highest close on record.
• During the session, it rose as much as 1.4% to an all-time high of 5,021.13.
• The index topped the 5,000 mark for the first time on Thursday, reaching a level promised by President Lee Jae Myung just seven months after he took office.
• The KOSPI climbed 3.1% this week, extending its gaining streak to a fifth straight week, after rising 5.5% last week.
• The biggest gaining sectors were financial groups and securities firms, up 2.75% and 9.28%, respectively, as the recent equities boom raised investor expectations for higher earnings.
• E-commerce firms also jumped, with search engine Naver rising 8.35% and chat app Kakao surging 4.45% on investor hopes around won-denominated stable-coins.
• “It is difficult to say the market is overheated or in a bubble,” Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said, citing forward price-to-earnings ratios around 10.5.
• Chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 0.13%, but peer SK Hynix gained 1.59%. Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 3.59% and 3.40%, respectively.
• Of the total 928 traded issues, 681 shares advanced, while 212 declined. Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 135.7 billion won ($92.61 million).
• The won was quoted at 1,465.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.09% lower than its previous close at 1,464.5.
• In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.17 point to 104.88.
• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.0 basis points to 3.144%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.1 basis points to 3.600%.