S.Korea stocks edge higher in cautious trade ahead of Fed decision

SEOUL, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares inched higher on Wednesday, recovering from early falls after Chinese shares opened higher, although gains were limited by caution ahead of the U.S. central bank policy decision. The Korean won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield was unchanged.

** The benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) rose 5.44 points, or 0.20%, to 2,725.83 by 0310 GMT after a three-day slide.

** Among heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) fell 0.54% and peer SK Hynix (000660.KS) rose 0.42%, while LG Chem (051910.KS) advanced 4.20% and Naver (035420.KS) fell 2.48%.

** South Korean shares sank before turning higher after Chinese markets opened, said Na Jeong-hwan, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, adding many investors were in wait-and-see mode ahead of the Federal Reserve decision.

** The Fed will update its policy plan later in the day, likely fleshing out timing for expected interest rate hikes and shrinking its massive balance sheet.

** Foreigners were net sellers of 165.6 billion won worth of shares on the main board.

** The won was quoted at 1,197.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform , 0.11% higher than its previous close at 1,198.6.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,197.0 per dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,197.7.

** The KOSPI has fallen 8.46% so far this year. It lost 9.4% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index (.KS11) was 303.57 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 930, the number of advancing shares was 623.

** The won has lost 0.7% against the dollar this year.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.05 point to 108.06.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.6 basis points to 2.158%, while the benchmark 10-year yield was flat at 2.576%.

Reporting by Cynthia Kim; additional reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

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