SEOUL, 24 Dec. (Reuters) – Overview of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean stocks headed for their best session in two weeks on Friday, fueled by a rally in chip stocks and the strong performance of Wall Street overnight on positive US data that offset concerns about the Omicron COVID-19 variant. The Korean won remained stable, while the benchmark bond yield declined.

** At 0143 GMT, the benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) rose 17.72 points, or 0.59%, to 3,015.89, set for the largest daily jump since December 9 and extending the gains in a fourth consecutive day.

** The benchmark was almost unchanged for the week, having recorded a three-week winning streak.

** The S&P 500 posted a record close on Thursday as oil prices rose as well, as strong US jobs and consumer spending data puts the world’s largest economy on track to finish in force until 2021. read more

** Further boosting the sentiment, studies have shown Omicron has a lower risk of hospitalization, while Merck (MRK.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N) have said their COVID-19 antiviral pills are effective against the variant. Read more

** At home, chip heavyweights increased for a fourth consecutive day, with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) hitting the highest level in over four months and SK Hynix (000660.KS) hitting a six-month high and half. , while hopes for a favorable outlook for the sector as a whole continued.

** Foreigners were net buyers of 125.2 billion won ($ 105.43 million) of shares on the main board.

** The won was traded at 1,188.1 to the dollar on the onshore settlement platform, largely unchanged from its previous close.

** In offshore trading, the won was listed at 1,187.3 while in undeliverable futures trading, its one-month contract was listed at 1,187.0.

** In money and bond markets, March futures on three-year Treasury bills rose 0.03 points to 109.02.

** The 10-year benchmark rate fell 0.3 basis point to 2.212%.

($ 1 = 1,187.5,200 earned)

Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Devika Syamnath

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