Stocks Are Mixed On Profit Taking

Seoul stocks were mixed on Tuesday. The main market slipped, ending a three-day rise, on profit taking by retail and institutional investors. The Kosdaq market rallied for the fourth consecutive day, on retail buying.

The main market started strong, soaring to 605 points, as foreign investors bought on Wall Street's overnight gains, but the surge subsided when institutional investors, who had been expected to be the new leader of the liquidity-driven rally, began to sell. With very little support, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 598.78, down 0.42 points, or 0.07 percent.

Trade volume was relatively thin at 345 million shares, as investors tended to stay on the sidelines. The value of traded shares was 1.98 trillion won ($1.57 billion).

Core blue chips were mixed. Hyundai Electronics declined 1.55 percent to 4,755 won. SK Telecom shed 1.95 percent, finishing at 252,000 won. Korea Telecom was down 3.27 percent to 71,000 won, taking a hit after the recent sale of the government's stake in the telecommunication services provider attracted fewer bidders than expected.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.25 percent to 199,000 won. Pohang Iron & Steel Co. squeezed out a gain of 0.10 percent, ending at 95,900 won. Korea Electric Power Corp. added 2.10 percent, to close at 26,800 won.

Gaining issues outnumbered losers 423 to 373, as a number of undervalued small and medium shares were boosted by bargain hunters.

Thirty six shares jumped 15 percent, the daily ceiling, and four issues declined by that limit.

The Kosdaq composite index gained 0.97 points, or 1.17 percent, ending at 84.08. Trade volume was 563 million shares, valued at 3.30 trillion won.

Large-cap shares were mixed. KT Freetel fell 0.64 percent, and KT M.Com lost 3.02 percent. Kookmin Card added 2.06 percent,, and Daum Communication gained 1.70 percent.

Biotechnology shares, which soared on Monday with the announcement that scientists had presented the first analysis of the human genome, generally dropped on profit taking.

Advancing issues led decliners 398 to 180. A total of 98 issues jumped by the daily limit of 12 percent, while five issues fell by that limit.

by Moon So-young