- In the KTB futures market, the lead month contract KTB206 inched up and down in a quite narrow range of 102.69 to 102.89 this week in a tug of war between several market friendly and unfriendly factors.
- The Korean Won enjoyed its strength against the US Dollar in the USD/KRW currency futures market.
- The KOSDAQ50 Index futures market showed its strong upward movement against the previous week's weakness.
Korea Treasury bond Futures Market
This week, in the KTB futures market, the lead month contract KTB206 inched up and down in a quite narrow range of 102.69 to 102.89 in a tug of war between several market friendly and unfriendly factors.
Actually with the uncertain environment, the KTB July contact showed its V-shaped movement this week.
Firstly from Monday to Tuesday the KTB206 contract lost 15 ticks and reached at 102.69 on Tuesday as the new governor of the bank of Korea gave a comment showing his worries over the inflation due to the overheating domestic economy and the volume at the 2-yr MSB bond auction scheduled on 18 April turns out to be much larger than expected.
However, from Wednesday to Weekend, the KTB206 gained 20 ticks and finished the week at 102.89 as both the US and Korean governmental authorities commented that the rate policy would be maintained the same as it is now.
The volume in the KTB futures market continued to decrease this week as the previous week thanks to the recent stable movement of the yield of the benchmark 3-yr K-Treasury bond rate stuck to around 6.5%-level. The KTB future's volume posted 32,591 contracts this week.
USD/KRW Currency Futures Market
During the week, the Korean Won enjoyed its strength against the US Dollar in the USD/KRW currency futures market.
The current month contract USD205 decreased by KRW 20.4 finishing the week at KRW 1,314.0 per USD. More importantly, the USD May contract represented its downward trend for five days in a row this week.
The major reasons for the appreciation of the KRW against the USD are as follows:
- Great amount of net purchasing by foreigners in the Seoul main bourse this week after their net selling continued for the previous several weeks in contrast with the individuals who sold KRW 849.8 billion in KSE - The amount of the net selling by foreigners in KSE totaled at KRW 580.6 billion this week.
- Stronger Japanese Yen against UD Dollar dropping JPY 129.92 per USD on Weekend in NY
KOSDAQ50 Index Futures Market
This week, the KOSDAQ50 Index futures market showed its strong upward movement against the previous week's weakness. The lead month contract KQ206 increased by 3.65 points during the week closing the week at 119.40 points.
Similarly, both the KOSPI and the KOSDAQ Comp Index gained by 48.25 points or 5.5 percent and 1.64 points or 1.94 percent and reached at 923.94 points and 85.88 points on Weekend.
The major reasons for the strength in the stock markets are as follows:
- Foreign investors' surprise turning to net purchasing position in the Seoul main bourse after having kept their net selling position for several weeks
- Announcement of better than expected 1Q-earning performances by two major Korean chipmakers: Samsung and Hynix electronics
- Both Samsung and Hynix electronics posted a 1Q operating profit of KRW 1.9 trillion (USD 1.45 billion) and KRW 109 billion (USD 83 million).
