South Korean shares end higher on tax revision hopes

Published on 09/28/2025 at 10:30 pm EDT - Modified on 09/29/2025 at 02:55 am EDT
* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers
* Korean won strengthens against dollar
* South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
(Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares rose more than 1% on Monday, buoyed by investor optimism that the government may revise its tax rules on dividend income to encourage larger payouts.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed up 45.16 points, or 1.33%, at 3,431.21.
** The country's vice finance minister said in a YouTube interview on Sunday that the government was listening to various opinions on dividend income taxes.
** In its July proposal, the government said it would impose separate taxes on dividend income at lower rates, if it were from companies making high payouts. The measure, however, was met by some criticism that high criteria for "high payouts" made it less effective.
** The government has already modified the proposal once by scrapping a plan to revise a capital gains tax on stock investments, after backlash from investors.
** "Financial and dividend stocks led the gains on the index after the vice finance minister's comments," said Seo Sang-young, analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** Among the sub-indexes, securities firms rallied 3.12%, while major financial groups jumped 1.59%.
** Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.08%, while peer SK Hynix gained 3.71%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.72%.
** Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 0.23% and 0.50%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 1.27%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 0.30%.
** Of the total 930 traded issues, 597 shares advanced, while 271 declined.
** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 445.7 billion won ($318.65 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,398.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.79% higher than its previous close at 1,409.7.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.1 basis point to 2.561%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.5 basis point to 2.938%. ($1 = 1,398.7000 won)
 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sonia Cheema) 

Sumber : Reuters