Steel, financial and shipyard shares plunge
The stock market board at a securities firm is flooded with green lights yesterday, signaling losses on the Korean market. [NEWSIS]
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 126.5 points or 9.44 percent to 1,213.78. Volume was heavy at 401.6 million shares worth 6.03 trillion won ($4.39 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 813 to 61.
Foreign investors drove the market downswings, dumping a net 635 billion won worth of local shares. Retailers hunted for cheap shares, purchasing a total of 570 billion won worth of shares.
Most blue-chip shares ended sharply lower, with steel, financial and shipyard shares falling to their daily limits. Top steelmaker Posco dived by its daily limit of 14.95 percent to 301,500 won and smaller Hyundai Steel also plunged 14.06 percent to 38,800 won.
No. 2 financial service provider Shinhan Financial Group closed down 11.18 percent at 36,950 won. No. 1 shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 14.87 percent to 186,000 won, while rival Samsung Heavy Industries was also off 14.98 percent to end at 21,000 won. Both posted their daily limit of losses.
Tech issues added to the downward move. Industry leader Samsung Electronics lost 7.86 percent to 504,000 won and chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor tumbled 14.72 percent to 15,350 won.
Telecom shares, however, were the sole advancers due to optimism over their third-quarter earnings. Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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