Shares slide as foreign investors offload
The benchmark Kospi closed at 2,065.08, down 10.13 points, or 0.49 percent, from the previous trading day. The Chinese government’s decision Wednesday to limit Korean cosmetics imports dragged down the index as low as 2,053, but it managed to rebound a bit on a buying spree by institutional investors.
Institutional investors bought 95.2 billion won ($82.9 million) in shares and retail investors purchased 94 billion won in shares. Foreign investors, on the other hand, offloaded 242.7 billion won worth.
Investor sentiment was also subdued by political worries in the United States and Europe.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.08 percent to close at 1,920,000 won and Hyundai Motor remained unchanged at 139,000 won.
Cosmetics shares were weak on concerns over China banning Korean products. AmorePacific plummeted 3.92 percent to 281,500 won and LG Household & Health Care dropped 3.21 percent to 845,000 won.
LG Electronics gained 2.72 percent to 60,400 won while SK Innovation added 1.65 percent to 154,000 won.
The secondary Kosdaq closed at 608.79, up 0.07 points, or 0.01 percent, from a day earlier. Foreign investors bought 27.4 billion won in shares, while institutional investors sold 39.1 billion won in shares.
Kakao rose 1.92 percent to 79,800 won and Celltrion added 0.3 percent to 100,800 won.
The local currency closed at 1,147.20 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.9 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasuries gained 1.8 basis points to 1.66 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond added 2 basis points to 1.85 percent.
BY KIM YOUNG-NAM, YONHAP [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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