Big market sees a drop but Kosdaq is up again
Leading stocks finished the week with lower numbers yesterday, as institutional and foreign investors bailed out of tech shares. Semiconductors suffered most, leading the market south on concern over falling international chip prices, analysts said.The main Kospi lost 3.33 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,612.25.
Tech giant Samsung Electronics lost 2.1 percent to end at 554,000 won ($593). Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s third largest chip maker, shed 3.1 percent. However, LG.Philips, the flat display panel maker, rose 1.7 percent on a brighter outlook for the industry. LG Electronics added 1.3 percent.
Hyundai Heavy Industries, which had driven the market during the recent rally, fell by 1.4 percent.
Posco, the nation’s top steel maker, shed 1.7 percent and Kepco, the electric power supplier, lost 0.8 percent.
Financial shares had a mixed day. Top lender Kookmin Bank fell 0.8 percent, while Shinhan Financial Group saw no change.
Construction issues gained on expectations of a business recovery. Daewoo Engineering & Construction added almost 2 percent. Hyundai Engineering & Construction climbed more than 2 percent.
“Investors dumped chipmakers as falling prices of dynamic random access memory [DRAM] are not likely to recover soon,” said Kim Young-gak, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Volume was moderate with 447.6 million shares worth 4.3 trillion won changing hands. Even with the fall, winners outpaced the losers 390 to 364.
The junior Kosdaq went in a different direction. The market closed at 711.08 adding 0.41 points, or less than 1 percent. Losers, however, outnumbered winners 470 to 435. More than 582 million shares worth 1.6 trillion won were traded. This market has risen by more than 100 points during the last three months.
By Hwang Young-jin Staff Writer [yhwang@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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