South Korean shares fall for third day as chipmakers track Nvidia slump

Reuters

South Korean shares fall for third day as chipmakers track Nvidia slump

27Ago2024304 GMT

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KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers

Korean won weakens slightly against dollar

South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, Aug 27 (Reuters) -Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares fell on Tuesday, as heavyweight chipmakers tracked overnight losses in AI darling Nvidia ahead of its quarterly earnings this week.

** The won traded marginally lower, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was down 10.73 points, or 0.4%, at 2,687.28, as of 0236 GMT, extending losses for the third straight session.

** Concerns over persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also weighed on investor sentiment.

** South Korea's government plans to raise budget spending to $510 billion for 2025 although the pace of growth is less than projected as Seoul seeks to tighten fiscal discipline.

** Shares of chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS fell 0.26% and peer SK Hynix 000660.KS lost 2%, after Nvidia posted overnight losses of more than 2%.

** Much of the U.S. stock market's gains over the last year-and-a-half can be attributed to the frenzy surrounding artificial intelligence, and earnings from Nvidia, the predominant AI chipmaker, is likely to affect shares of companies who have hitched their wagon to the AI star.

** SK Innovation 096770.KS, parent of the country's largest oil refiner and battery maker SK On, climbed 3.94%, after its shareholders approved a merger with energy affiliate SK E&S as part of a major restructuring of the conglomerate.

** Among other index heavyweights, automakers fell more than 1%, while e-commerce firms also declined.

** Of the total 937 traded issues, 317 shares advanced, while 553 declined.

** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 154.2 billion won ($115.83 million).

** The won was quoted at 1,331.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.1% lower than its previous close at 1,329.8.

** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 fell 0.15 point to 105.85.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose 5.6 basis points to 2.947%, while the benchmark 10-year yield climbed 7.1 basis points to 3.045%.

($1 = 1,331.2200 won)

Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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