Kospi dips amid fears of U.S.-China trade war

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Kospi dips amid fears of U.S.-China trade war

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Korean stocks ended lower Friday as foreigners and institutions dumped local stocks in line with losses on Wall Street amid a brewing U.S.-China trade war. The won depreciated against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi plunged 79.26 points, or 3.18 percent, to 2,416.76. Trade volume was moderate at 7.82 trillion won ($6.6 billion).

Foreigners and institutions were net sellers, offloading 133.2 billion won and 643.8 billion won worth of stocks each. Individuals bought a net 754.7 billion won, keeping the main index from falling further.

In response to the U.S. plan to levy heavy tariffs on at least $50 billion of Chinese imports, Beijing said it may raise tariffs on U.S. goods, signaling an escalating trade dispute between the two economic giants. Asian shares, including Seoul’s, were affected by the conflict, analysts said.

Technology stocks led the losses, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics dropping 3.98 percent to 2,486,000 won and No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix plunging 6.21 percent to 83,100 won.

Securities and banks were also big losers. KB Financial group declined 3.60 percent to 61,600 won, while Shinhan Financial Group fell 2.93 percent to 44,750 won.

Among other decliners, top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.66 percent to 151,500 won. Leading steelmaker Posco shed 5.58 percent to 321,500 won, while No. 2 electronics company LG Electronics was down 4.48 percent at 106,500 won.

Weakened investor sentiment also helped the secondary Kosdaq to plummet 41.94 points, or 4.81 percent, to 829.68. This was the largest drop for the tech-heavy market since June 24, 2016.

Again, foreigners and institutions were net sellers, each offloading 32.0 billion won and 110.6 billion won. Individuals bought 135.6 billion won more than they sold.

The pharmaceutical sector was hit the greatest, shedding 7.5 percent. Celltrion subsidiaries, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm each dropped 4.84 percent to 102,300 won and 5.44 percent to 81,700 won.

Semiconductors declined 5.1 percent. SK Materials dropped 2.81 percent to 152,100 won, while Seoul Semiconductor dropped 6.21 percent to 19,650 won.

The local currency closed at 1,082.20 won against the U.S. dollar, up 9.5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year bonds fell 3.3 basis points to 2.22 percent, and the return on the 10-year government bonds declined 4.6 basis points to 2.65 percent.


BY KIM EUN-JIN, YONHAP [kim.eunjin1@joongang.co.kr]
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