South Korean shares closed little changed on Friday, as encouragement from upbeat US economics data and an earnings-driven Wall Street rally were offset by a steep decline in Posco shares.

Shares in Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, plunged 7.7 per cent after the company posted weaker-than-expected fourth quarter earnings on slowing demand from China.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ticked down 0.09 per cent to close at 1,949.26 points. The main bourse wraps up the month with a 1.8 per cent gain, buoyed by the European Central Bank’s massive bond-buying stimulus programme.

The South Korean won erased early falls to close nearly flat against the dollar on Friday, finding late support from month-end exporter demand for the local currency.

The won was quoted at 1,093.5 to the dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, compared with 1,093.9 seen at the end of Thursday’s session.

The South Korean currency has risen 0.5 per cent this month, though facing a recent downdraft from an increasingly divergent monetary policy outlook between the US and other major central banks.

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