Won hits 4-year low; Kospi, Kosdaq sink
Seoul’s main bourse Kospi on Wednesday once sank to the 1,940 mark in the middle of the day, and the country’s secondary market Kosdaq also briefly dropped below 700.The benchmark Kospi edged down 11.18 points or 0.56 percent to close at 1975.47. Foreign investors sold 300 billion won ($252 million) worth of local shares, while retail and institutional investors purchased 280 billion won worth.
The secondary market Kosdaq lost 15.06 points or 2.06 percent to finish at 717.20.
By market capitalization, No. 1 Samsung Electronics inched down 0.26 percent to close at 1,154,000 won. Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) fell 0.99 percent to 49,800 won and chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 0.83 percent to 35,800 won. Leading cosmetics company AmorePacific plummeted 6.23 percent to 376,000 won.
Hyundai Motor and its affiliates were winners for the day. Hyundai Motor soared 5.04 percent to close at 146,000 won. Kia Motors jumped 5.36 percent to 44,200 won and auto parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis advanced 2.42 percent to 212,000 won.
Lotte shopping surged 7.83 percent to close at 241,000 won after Lotte Group’s announcement of reforming its corporate governance structure. Leading tobacco maker KT&G Corporation increased 4.59 percent to 114,000 won and Kangwon Land, thanks to its good earnings for the second quarter in the midst of Middle East respiratory syndrome, soared 5.31 percent to 43,600 won.
The currency fell 1 percent to close at 1,190.44 a dollar in Seoul, the weakest level in almost four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It dropped to 1,195.51 earlier, the weakest since October 2011. The currency has declined 8.4 percent this year.
“The won will react sensitively to the yuan’s moves going forward, and all focus is on whether China will show it favors a weak currency,” said Jeon Seung-ji, a currency analyst at Samsung Futures in Seoul. “Expectations for another BOK [Bank of Korea] rate cut are building after China’s surprise move.”
Sovereign bonds rose, with the yield on notes due June 2025 falling six basis points to 2.27 percent, Korea Exchange prices showed. The three-year yield declined two basis points to 1.72 percent.
BY CHOI JEONG-PIL, BLOOMBERG [choi.jeongpil@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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