South Korean shares log fourth weekly gain on Fed cut

Published on 09/19/2025 at 03:35 am EDT

• KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
• Korean won weakens against dollar
• South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

(Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares fell on Friday but logged their fourth weekly gain on the back of a widely-expected Federal Reserve rate cut. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
** Benchmark KOSPI closed down 16.06 points, or 0.46%, at 3,445.24 as of 0632 GMT. For the week, it was up 1.46% and logged the fourth straight weekly gain, the longest weekly winning stretch since June.
** Lee Kyung-min, Daishin Securities analyst, said there has been some pressure building up for profit-taking as the index reached record highs this week.
** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 0.99%, while peer SK Hynix was flat. Battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 1.41%.
** Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 2.06% and down 0.49%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 0.53%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 0.49%.
** The Fed, goaded by the risk of rising unemployment, lowered rates on Wednesday for the first time since December 2024 and indicated that more cuts would follow.
** Of the total 930 traded issues, 242 advanced, while 640 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 308 billion won.
** The won was quoted at 1,396.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.51% lower than its previous close.
** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,395.8 per dollar, down 0.6% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,393.2.
** The KOSPI has risen 43.58% so far this year.
** The won has strengthened 5.5% against the dollar so far this year.
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.11 point to 107.29.
** The most-liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.7 basis points to 2.430%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 6.2 basis points to 2.790%.
 (Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Youn Ah Moon; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair) 

Sumber : Reuters