Korean shares take hit from U.S. selloff
The benchmark index, the Kospi, declined 23.82 points, or 1 percent, to close at 2,357.87. Trade volume was moderate at 324 million shares worth 5.7 trillion won ($5.3 billion), with losers far outnumbering gainers 560 to 243. Institutional and foreign investors offloaded a net 408 billion won and 145 billion won worth of local stocks, respectively, while individuals were net buyers, snatching up 500 billion won.
The local stock market opened lower following overnight Wall Street losses. On Friday in New York, U.S. stocks dropped, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index plummeting 1.8 percent on a massive tech selloff. Most large caps in Seoul were mixed, with tech shares finishing in negative terrain.
“The U.S. market slipped, led by tech losses despite gains in financial and energy shares” said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
Leading video game maker NC Soft, though, climbed 2.4 percent to finish at a record high of 416,000 won after unveiling the mobile version of its megahit video game series Lineage. The game, Lineage M, will be available on Android and iOS on June 21.
Brokerage houses and insurers gained ground on rosy forecasts ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s June open market committee meeting. Top insurer Samsung Life Insurance edged up 0.35 percent to 239,000 won. Hana Investment & Securities gained 2.58 percent to end at 43,750 won.
The local currency closed at 1,127.03 won against the greenback, down 4.1 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, dropped. The yield on three-year bonds surged 6.5 basis points to 1.7 percent, and the return on five-year bonds gained 6.5 basis points to end at 1.9 percent.
BY KIM JEE-HEE, YONHAP [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)