Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares fell on Monday amid growing bets on U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates, while rising local COVID-19 cases also dampened the sentiment. The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
** The benchmark fell 5.20 points, or 0.19%, to end at 2,745.06 as of 06:30.
** Among the heavyweights, technology giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 1.35% and 1.20%, respectively, while LG Chem and Naver dropped 5.75% and 0.15%.
** There is now a higher likelihood of a 50 basis point rate hike by the Fed, following a surprisingly good U.S. job market data, which pressured stocks, said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** The U.S. economy created far more jobs than expected in January despite the disruption to consumer-facing businesses from a surge in COVID-19 cases, data showed on Friday.
** Foreigners were net sellers of 5.2 billion won ($4.33 million) worth of shares on the main board.
** The won was quoted at 1,200.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.31% lower than its previous close at 1,197.0.
** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,199.9 per dollar, down 0.1% from the previous session, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract KRW1MNDFOR= was quoted at 1,200.6.
** The KOSPI has fallen 7.81% so far this year, but lost 7.2% in the last 30 trading sessions. ** The won has lost 1.0% against the dollar so far this year.
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 fell 0.20 points to 107.82.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.1 basis points to 2.236%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.6 basis points to 2.635%.
($1 = 1,199.8800 won)
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; additional reporting by Jihoon Lee; editing by Rashmi Aich)
