Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

 

** South Korean shares tracked losses on Wall Street to close lower on Tuesday, while worries about persistent inflation and policy tightening lifted local treasury yields to a more than eight-year high. The Korean won, too, weakened.

 

** The benchmark KOSPI ended 44.31 points, or 1.66%, lower at 2,626.34.

 

** South Korea's 10-year treasury yield rose by more than 13 basis points to 3.534% — the highest since April 2014.

 

** Among heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics fell 1.95%, peer SK Hynix slid 2.80%, and battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 1.26%.

 

** The KOSPI pared earlier losses towards the afternoon but the prospect of a faster-than-expected U.S. monetary policy tightening is pushing U.S. treasury yields higher and adding volatilities in the global market, said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

 

** Foreigners were net sellers of 205.0 billion won ($163.14 million) worth of shares on the main board.

 

** The won was quoted at 1,257.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, down 1.19%.

 

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,257.5 per dollar, down 0.2%, while in non-deliverable forward trading, its one-month contract was quoted at 1,257.0.

 

** The KOSPI has fallen 11.80% so far this year, but lost 1.8% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

 

** The trading volume was 517.04 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 929, the number of advancing shares was 163.

 

** The won has lost 5.5% against the dollar so far this year.

 

** In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.31 point to 104.82.

 

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 10.5 basis points to 3.225%. ($1 = 1,256.6100 won) (Reporting by Cynthia Kim, additional reporting by Youn Ah Moon; editing by Uttaresh.V)


Reuters