KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
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Korean won strengthens against dollar
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South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
SEOUL, – The South Korean won gained 1% ahead of the Constitutional Court’s long-awaited verdict on Friday on whether to permanently remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his martial law declaration or restore him to power.
The won was up 1% against the dollar at 1,438.00 in early onshore trade, about an hour before the Constitutional Court was due to begin ruling on Yoon, while the benchmark KOSPI stock index was nearly flat, as it reversed early losses of about 1.5%.
“The expected scenario today is for the court to uphold the impeachment bill…volatility could really rise, both ways, and it could even slide down to 1,500 won per dollar depending on the result,” a local forex analyst said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
South Korean authorities have been on the most vigorous defence of the local currency in recent months from a market rout triggered by Yoon’s brief imposition of the martial law in early December.
It sold a net $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter as part of its smoothing operations, the Bank of Korea data showed, the largest quarterly amount since the second quarter of 2024.
Chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 1.04% and peer SK Hynix lost 4.32%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 3.81%.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy was hit with 25% levies as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff campaign this week.
Hyundai Motor added 0.21%, while its sister automaker Kia Corp lost 0.22%. Search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were up 0.25% and down 0.70%, respectively.
Of the total 933 traded issues, 459 shares advanced, while 406 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 630.5 billion won .
In money and debt markets, June futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.22 point to 107.25.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
