South Korean shares end flat as China tourism hopes offset US tariff worries

Published on 08/06/2025 at 03:35 am EDT

• KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
• Korean won weakens against dollar
• South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

(Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares ended flat on Wednesday, as tourism stocks rallied after the government announced a visa-free offer for Chinese tourists, offsetting losses in chip and pharmaceutical stocks amid U.S. tariff threats.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 0.14 points, or by less than 0.01%, at 3,198.14, after falling as much as 0.67% during the session.
** South Korea will offer visa-free entry to tourist groups from China for a temporary period from September 29 through June 2026 to boost foreign tourism ahead of an Asia-Pacific summit, the government said.
** Hyundai Department Store jumped 7.1%, Hotel Shilla rose 4.8%, casino operator Paradise climbed 2.9% and Hankook Cosmetics surged 9.9% on hopes of a boost from Chinese demand.
** But among bigger heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 1.57% and peer SK Hynix lost 1.90%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics dropped 1.90%.
** On Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. would begin with a "small tariff" on pharmaceutical imports and increase it in a year or so. He also signalled that tariffs on semiconductors will be announced within the "next week or so".
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 67.4 billion won ($48.49 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,389.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.24% lower than its previous close at 1,386.3.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.5 basis points to 2.432%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 1.3 basis points to 2.753%. ($1 = 1,390.0400 won)
 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee, Editing by Harikrishnan Nair) 

Sumber : Reuters