South Korean shares rise 18% as stocks gain on last trading day

South Korean shares rose on the last trading day of 2023 on Thursday, setting itself for annual gains of over 17 per cent.

The development comes on the back of Federal Reserve's dovish stance to cut interest rates soon.

Notably, South Korea's financial markets are closed on December 29, and trading will resume on January 2 at 10 am KST (0100 GMT), an hour later than usual.

South Korean currency won strengthened while the benchmark bond yield fell. Of 937 traded issues, 553 shares advanced, while 306 declined.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 18.17 points, or 0.70 per cent to 2,631.67 by 01:56 GMT. The KOSPI has risen 17.67 per cent this year.

Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics was flat and peer SK Hynix lost 0.36 per cent as battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.48 per cent.

Automaker Hyundai Motor added 1.76 per cent and sister automaker Kia Corp gained almost 3 per cent.

Search engine Naver was up 0.22 per cent and instant messenger Kakao gained 0.56 per cent.

Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 67.4 billion won on the main board on Thursday.

The won was quoted at 1,290.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.27 per cent higher than its previous close at 1,294.2.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,288.3 per dollar, up 0.3 per cent on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,285.7.The won has lost 2 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.13 points to 105.34. The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 5.3 basis points to 3.169 per cent while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 5.8 basis points to 3.205 per cent.

(With Reuters Inputs)