Kospi continues to fall as Kosdaq inches up
The benchmark Kospi lost 6.08 points, or 0.26 percent from the previous session, to close at 2,374.32.
Foreigners and individuals offloaded a net 377.2 billion won ($332 million) and 174.7 billion won worth of local stocks, respectively, targeting some major tech stocks - a move seen as cashing in on recent gains by market watchers.
Meanwhile, institutional investors were net buyers and snatched up 506.5 billion won worth of shares.
Analysts speculated many investors took a breather following the recent rally to gauge rising tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
“Investors are forecast to wait on the sidelines as heightened geopolitical tensions are forecast to continue ahead of the long holiday,” said Kim Dae-joon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.
Its smaller rival LG Electronics lost 2.97 percent to 81,800 won. SK Hynix, a major chipmaker, also lost 4.87 percent to 82,100 won to end a three-day positive run.
Leading steelmaker Posco closed at 315,500 won, up 2.6 percent. Auto stocks also closed in positive terrain, with leading automaker Hyundai Motor jumping 4.61 percent to 147,500 won and its sister company, Kia Motors, adding 2.48 percent to 30,950 won.
Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis increased 5.23 percent to 231,500 won.
The secondary Kosdaq closed at 642.4 on Tuesday, adding 0.36 percent points, or 0.06 percent from the previous session. This was the first time in five trading days the tech-heavy index had moved up.
Celltrion lost 3 percent to 142,500 won along with subsidiary Celltrion Healthcare, down 1.11 percent to 53,500 won.
On the contrary, Medtox advanced 3.08 percent to 565,900 won. CJ E&M was steady, adding 0.13 percent to 78,000 won.
The local currency weakened 0.4 percent to close at 1,136.8 won against the U.S. dollar.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended lower. The three-year government bond yield gained 5 basis points to 1.83 percent while return on the 10-year bonds rose four basis points to 2.31 percent.
BY SONG KYOUNG-SON, YONHAP [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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