South Korean shares fall on weaker-than-expected GDP data

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares pare early gains on Trump tariff talks

• South Korean shares dropped on Thursday, after the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) data fell short of market expectations.

• The benchmark KOSPI was down 20.29 points, or 0.80%, at 2,526.77 as of 0242 GMT.

• During the session, the KOSPI fell as much as 1.1% despite Wall Street’s overnight rally to a record high.

• South Korea’s economy barely grew in the fourth quarter of 2024, missing market expectations, as domestic demand was hurt in part by the country’s worst political crisis in decades, data showed.

• SK Hynix fell 2.66%, despite a record quarterly profit that surpassed its bigger rival Samsung, as the chipmaker warned of steeper price declines in commodity memory chips used in smartphones and computers. Samsung Electronics fell 1.10%.

• Of the total 941 traded issues, 200 shares advanced, while 683 declined.

• Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 503.0 billion won ($350.04 million).

• The won was quoted at 1,436.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.05% lower than its previous close at 1,436.2.

• In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.04 point to 106.93.

• The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.0 basis point to 2.567%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.9 basis point to 2.839%.