SEOUL: A round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares rebounded from a six-month closing low on Friday on dip buying but remained on track for their biggest weekly loss in 18 years on AI worries.
The benchmark KOSPI was up 131.07 points, or 2.36%, at 5,685.29, as of 0200 GMT.
On Thursday, the index fell nearly 8% to close at the lowest since April 7, as doubts grew over the sustainability of the global AI investment boom. The index extended losses to a seventh straight session, the longest run of daily losses since September 2024.
The index has fallen 14.3% so far this week, heading for a third consecutive weekly decline and the biggest weekly loss since October 2008.
"Past cases of seven consecutive sessions of losses suggest much higher expected value for technical reversal than risk of additional decline," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
South Korea's finance ministry said it would step up financial market monitoring and closely watch for any impact of recent stock market volatility on bond, foreign exchange and short-term money markets.
Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.90%, while peer SK Hynix gained 1.82%.
Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.62%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 6.77% and 5.52%, respectively.
Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 2.74%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 4.33%.
Of the total 914 traded issues, 768 shares advanced, while 124 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 307.8 billion won ($228.77 million).
The won was quoted at 1,346.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.30% lower than its previous close at 1,342.0.
In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.01 point to 102.96.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.8 basis point to 3.877%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.3 basis point to 4.205%. - Reuters
