S.Korea shares snap four-day rally on profit taking ahead of Fed statement
Wednesday, September 16, 2020       14:39 WIB

SEOUL, Sept 16 (Reuters) - South Korean shares snapped a four-session rally on Wednesday, dragged down by chemical and financial stocks on profit taking, as investors were cautious ahead of the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
By 0632 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI fell 7.66 points, or 0.31%, to 2,435.92, logging its first decline after four sessions of gains to hit a near two-year high on Tuesday. Foreigners were net buyers of 173.0 billion won ($147.35 million) worth of shares on the main board.
Chemical shares declined 2.43%, while an index of local brokerage shares fell 0.23%
There was some profit-taking after shares reached a peak, led by institutional investors, said Seo Jung-hun, an analyst at Samsung Securities.
Following robust data from China, investors are also focusing on the U.S. Fed policy statement due later in the day, the first since chair Jerome Powell announced an increased tolerance for higher inflation.
The won was quoted at 1,176.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.25% higher than its previous close at 1,179.0.
In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,175.4 per dollar, up 0.4% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,175.6. MSCI 's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.65%,.
The KOSPI has risen 10.84% so far this year, and/but gained 8.6% in the previous 30 trading sessions. The won has lost 1.7% against the dollar so far this year. In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.03 points to 111.79.
The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.3 basis points to 0.910%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.9 basis points to 1.485%. ($1 = 1,174.0400 won) (Reporting by Cynthia Kim and additional reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

Sumber : reuters.com