Nervous trading further dents share prices
Nervous trading further dents share pricesKorean stocks tumbled to a three-year low yesterday as investors dumped shares amid concerns that the recent financial meltdown could lead to a worldwide economic recession, analysts said.
The benchmark Kospi fell 33.11 points or 2.7 percent to 1,180.67, continuing a three-day losing streak and marking the lowest level since Oct. 31, 2005. Volume was heavy at 411.93 million shares worth 6.42 trillion won ($4.81 billion), with losers outpacing gainers, 471 to 364.
“The global financial crisis and a possible worldwide economic recession dented already-fragile investor sentiment,” said Kim Jung-hyun, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities. “Panic is spreading that Korea might fall victim to the ongoing financial fiasco.”
Local stock markets capped one of the most turbulent weeks in history with the main index tossing up and down, responding nervously to daily economic developments. Over the past three days, the index has lost around 14 percent on massive foreign selloffs following sharp surges on Monday and Tuesday.
Financial shares led the market downswings. Second-ranked financial service provider Shinhan Financial Group plunged 8.8 percent and Hana Financial Group fell by its daily limit of 14.9 percent.
Shipyard and shipping shares were also severely dented. Leading shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries dived 11 percent following its daily limit plunge of 14.9 percent a day earlier. Shipping giant Hanjin Shipping fell 9.3 percent to close. Tech exporters closed mixed.
Chip-making giant Hynix Semiconductor was down 2.3 percent, while Samsung Electronics inched up 0.2 percent.
But top steelmaker Posco edged up 0.2 percent and SK Telecom advanced 1.8 percent.
The downswings came despite the overnight rebound on Wall Street from the previous day’s dive. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 4.7 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index also advanced 5.5 percent.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, soared. The return on three-year Treasuries plunged 0.24 percentage point to 5.03 percent and the benchmark yield on five-year government bonds also lost 0.22 percentage point to 5.08 percent.Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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