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S.Korean stocks rise ahead of U.S. jobs data; U.S.-China tensions weigh

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares ended higher on Friday, ahead of the release of U.S. jobs data, although sentiment was dampened by the Trump administration’s move to ban U.S. transactions with Chinese-owned apps WeChat and Tiktok. The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI rose 9.06 points, or 0.39%, to 2,351.67. The index jumped 4.55% for the week, logging its biggest weekly gain since early June.

** Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress and top aides to President Donald Trump failed to make substantial progress on Thursday on a new coronavirus aid bill, but both sides expressed a willingness to continue negotiations.

** Investors are also looking forward to the U.S. jobs data due later in the day, with analysts forecasting a rise of 1.58 million new jobs last month and a decline in the unemployment rate to 10.5%.

** Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent , operator of messenger app WeChat.

** Shares of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd surged as much as 16% to a two-month high after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly numbers.

** Foreigners were net sellers of 78.1 billion won ($65.90 million) worth of shares on the main board.

** The won ended trading at 1,184.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.10% lower than its previous close at 1,183.5. For the week, it strengthened 0.56%, marking the third straight weekly gains.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,184.4 per dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,184.6.

** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.03 points to 112.24.

** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.2 basis points to 0.810% in late afternoon trade, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.2 basis points to 1.318%.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Aditya Soni)

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