Seoul shares slide on political unease
The benchmark Kospi fell 2.45 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,075.21.
“The U.S. government is swiftly pushing ahead with its anti-immigration and protectionism measures,” said Kim Sung-hwan, an analyst at Bookook Securities.
Kim said U.S. moves are “pouring cold water” on expectations about Korean exports, which recently have shown signs of a rebound.
Semiconductors lost 1.3 percent and energy and chemicals lost 1.2 percent. Automobiles, on the other hand, gained 2 percent.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics shed 1.87 percent to close at 1,941,000 won. Korea’s leading chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 0.74 percent to 53,300 won. LG Chemicals fell 1.62 percent to 273,000 won and SK Innovation lost 0.33 percent to 151,500 won.
Hyundai Motor climbed 1.83 percent to 139,000 won and its sister company Kia Motors added 2.09 percent to 36,650 won. Naver, the nation’s portal giant, advanced 2.7 percent to 800,000 won and Posco increased 2.1 percent to 268,000 won.
The secondary Kosdaq also dropped, losing 2.24 points, or 0.37 percent, to 608.72.
Pharmaceutical companies Celltrion and Medytox slipped 0.89 percent and 1.17 percent each to close at 100,500 won and 430,300 won. CJ E&M, CJ’s entertainment and media unit, sank 5.15 percent to 82,900 won. SK Materials dove 6.42 percent to 176,400 won.
Still, some shares in the index managed to gain. Kakao added 1.29 percent to 78,300 won and Komipharm grew 2.47 percent to 33,200 won.
The won closed at 1,144.3 won against the greenback, down 6.4 won, or 0.6 percent, from the previous trading day.
Both the three-year government bond yield and the 10-year yield shed 2 basis points to 1.64 percent and 2.13 percent.
BY CHOI HYUNG-JO, YONHAP [choi.hyungjo@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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