Big investors opt for profit, dump tech stocks
The benchmark index, the Kospi, shed 6.31 points to close at 2,515.43. Trade volume was slim at 333 million shares worth 5.8 trillion won ($5.3 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 481 to 340.
Institutional investors offloaded a net 288.1 billion won worth of local stocks, while individual and foreign investors were net buyers, snatching up 167.2 billion won and 65.8 billion won.
The market opened a tad lower following losses on Wall Street. On Tuesday in New York, the U.S. market paused its rally, weighed down by weakness in major oil shares. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.04 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.35 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.51 percent.
Samsung Electronics fell 0.76 percent to 2,481,000 won to snap a two-day winning streak, and SK Hynix, one of the top chipmakers in the world, went down 0.4 percent to 74,000 won.
In contrast, steel and medical shares closed higher, with top steelmaker Posco moving up 1.98 percent to 388,500 won.
Auto shares had a mixed day, with leading automaker Hyundai Motor backtracking 0.32 percent to 157,500 won. Its sister company Kia Motors added 0.61 percent to 32,850 won, and auto parts supplier Hyundai Mobis was up 1.38 percent at 256,500 won.
The Kosdaq, which has been hitting peaks recently and surpassed the 900 mark on Tuesday, fell back down to 886.58 on Wednesday.
Celltrion, the top share in the tech-heavy stock market, plunged 9.76 percent to 313,500 won and biopharmaceutical company TissueGene lost 3.28 percent to end at 56,000 won.
SillaJen grew 3.89 percent, and Medytox advanced 2.69 percent. Entertainment giant CJ E&M rose 3.16 percent.
The local currency closed at 1,169.3 won against the dollar, up 6.6 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended lower.
Returns on three-year bonds added 0.2 basis points to close at 2.23 percent, and returns on the benchmark five-year bond gained 0.1 basis points to end at 2.47 percent.
BY KIM JEE-HEE, YONHAP [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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