South Korean shares track Wall Street's record peak on soft US inflation data

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares climbed on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's surge to record highs after soft U.S. inflation data reinforced expectations for a September rate cut. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield edged higher.

** The benchmark KOSPI KOSPI was up 18.30 points, or 0.57%, at 3,208.21, as of 0233 GMT. ** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930 rose nearly 1%, while peer SK Hynix 000660 gained 2.79%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220 climbed 0.26%.

** World shares hit record highs on Tuesday after U.S. consumer price data fuelled expectations of an impending Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September, and a trade war truce between Washington and Beijing also buoyed sentiment. ** Shares of Hyundai Motor 005380 and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270 were up 0.94% and 0.88%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490 shed 0.82%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940 rose 1.08%.

** In political developments that could influence investor sentiment, South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee was arrested after a court late on Tuesday issued a warrant following accusations of graft that she denies. ** Of the total 932 traded issues, 330 shares advanced, while 548 declined. ** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 256.0 billion won. ** The won was quoted at 1,385.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform USDKRW, 0.06% lower than its previous close at 1,384.4. ** The KOSPI index has risen 33.70% so far this year. ** The won has strengthened 6.3% against the dollar so far this year. ** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds (KTBc1) gained 0.04 point to 107.40. ** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield (KR3YT=RR) fell by 0.9 basis points to 2.421%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10 rose by 0.1 basis points to 2.808%.