Samsung, LG Elec slide as Kospi sheds 2.1%
Seoul’s main stock market closed 2.1 percent lower yesterday as investors were spooked by growing worries about corporate earnings, analysts said.The benchmark Kospi shed 22.83 points to 1,093.4. Volume was light at 259.1 million shares worth 3.5 trillion won ($2.5 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 582 to 215.
“Market sentiment, already dented by overnight Wall Street losses, took a further hit from disappointing earnings of market bellwether Samsung Electronics,” said Sung Jin-kyung, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
The U.S. Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.3 percent on Thursday and the S&P 500 retreated 1.5 percent, as companies including Microsoft reported disappointing earnings.
Samsung Electronics, which reported earlier yesterday its first-ever quarterly loss of 20 billion won for the final quarter of 2008, plunged 4.1 percent to 442,000 won.
Smaller rival LG Electronics also plunged 5.8 percent to close at 68,300 won. Deutsche Bank cut its recommendation on the stock to “hold” from “buy” to reflect “low” margins in appliances and handset operations. Fourth-quarter results were “worse than expected,” the brokerage said in a note.
Other technology stocks were also weak. Hynix Semiconductor lost 5.7 percent. LG Display slipped 0.8 percent.
Hyundai Motor, Korea’s biggest automaker, slipped 0.6 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors shed 3.9 percent.
SK Energy lost 0.3 percent, after the biggest Korean oil refiner said it posted its first quarterly loss after splitting from SK Corp. in 2007 as the won’s weakness against the dollar increased overseas debt and the cost of importing raw materials.
On the other hand, Hanwha Chemical rose 2.5 percent. Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on the stock to “equal-weight,” from “underweight,” in a note, saying the company will be free from any cash obligation after Hanwha Group cancelled the contract to purchase Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
The secondary Kosdaq market shed 5.75 points to 352.83.The volume was 496.94 million shares, and the value stood at 1.15 trillion won. Yonhap, Bloombrg
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)