Kospi down as shipping, steel shares dumped
Korean stocks closed lower yesterday as investors unloaded shipping and steel shares on overnight setbacks in U.S. markets and lingering woes over financial instability, analysts said.The local currency jumped against the U.S. dollar on reported government intervention in the market.
The benchmark Kospi fell 22.05 points, or 1.55 percent, to 1,404.38. Volume was moderate at 291.9 million shares worth 4.13 trillion won ($3.7 billion), with losers outpacing winners 441 to 353.
“Overnight Wall Street losses and the fluctuating currency market worsened already-fragile investor sentiment,” said Lee Jung-min, an analyst at Korea Investment Securities.
“Retailers engaged in bargain hunting, but foreigners continued to sell shares, weighing down the market.”
Most large-caps lost substantial ground, with transportation, shipyard and steel shares among the worst performers.
Leading shipper Hanjin Shipping plummeted 10.49 percent on concerns over bleak business outlooks amid a global economic slowdown. Smaller Korea Line Corp. lost 3.05 percent.
Shipyards were rattled on reports that steel price hikes could increase overall production costs. No. 1 shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries dropped 3.91 percent and second-ranked Samsung Heavy Industries fell 4.96 percent.
Steel shares also sapped the market’s mood as concern deepened that a weak won might lead to an increase in costs of raw materials. Posco plunged 4.53 percent. Kumho Industrial also retreated 2.4 percent.
Tech exporters, however, rebounded. Industry leader Samsung Electronics advanced 1.17 percent to 520,000 won ($465) on reports that it is considering an acquisition of SanDisk Corp.
The move would help Samsung reduce its royalty payments to the global data storage equipment manufacturer, experts say.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks retreated as weaker-than-expected retail sales and more applications for jobless insurance renewed concerns over an economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.99 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index dived 3.2 percent. Yonhap, Bloomberg
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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