South Korean shares ended up nearly 1% on Monday, driven by major tech heavyweights, following Friday's rally on Wall Street and as upbeat exports data boosted investor sentiment. The won and the benchmark bond yield rose. The KOSPI closed up 29.70 points, or 0.97%, at 3,090.21, rebounding from a 1.21% drop on Friday. Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.83%, while peer SK Hynix added 0.49%. Naver and Kakao gained 1.66% and 3.13%, respectively. Foreigners were net sellers for a 10th straight session, to the tune of a net 31.1 billion won ($26.49 million) worth of shares on the main board. All three major US indexes ended higher on Friday as concerns eased over whether the US Federal Reserve could begin tightening monetary policy sooner than expected. South Korea's exports for the first 20 days of August surged 40.9% year-on-year, data showed on Monday, with those of semiconductors, petroleum products and cars soaring 39.8%, 55.3% and 37.0%, respectively. Shares of LG Chem slid more than 10% after General Motors Co said it would recall an extra 73,000 Chevrolet Bolt cars that use the South Korean firm's batteries.
The won ended at 1,173.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.50% stronger than its previous close at 1,179.6. In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,174.6, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,174.3. In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.09 points to 110.48. The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 2.4 basis points to 1.388%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 3.4 basis points to 1.886%.