South Korean bonds hold gains despite January inflation jumping to over 4-year high

The South Korean bonds held gains Thursday despite the country’s consumer price inflation (CPI) jumping to over 4-year high in January.  

The 10-year bond yield, which moves inversely to its price, traded 2 basis points lower at 2.15 percent, the yield on 20-year note fell 1-1/2 basis points to 2.20 percent and short-term 3-year bond yields up 3 basis points to 1.66 percent.

Overall consumer prices in South Korea were up 0.9 percent on month in January, data released by Statistics Korea showed Thursday. That surpassed forecasts for 0.3 percent and was up sharply from 0.1 percent in December.

On a yearly basis, inflation jumped 2.0 percent - again beating forecasts for 1.5 percent and up from 1.3 percent in the previous month. Core CPI, which excludes food prices, added 0.6 percent on month and 1.5 percent on year. That followed the 0.1 percent monthly decline and the 1.2 percent yearly gain in December.

Meanwhile, The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed 0.46 percent down at 2,071.01 points.