Shares fall as China-U.S. trade concern returns
Korean stocks dropped nearly 1 percent Wednesday as investor sentiment was dampened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments on trade talks with China. The won depreciated against the dollar.The benchmark Kospi dropped 18.95 points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,072.92. Trading volume was heavy at 752 million shares worth 4.55 trillion won ($3.85 billion).
On Tuesday, Trump said Washington still has a long way to go to conclude a trade deal with Beijing and could impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods if it needed to do so.
“U.S. President Donald Trump made negative remarks about U.S.-China trade talks, which added uncertainty to the local stock market,” said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
The Bank of Korea is likely to keep its policy interest rate steady Thursday, according to analysts.
Individuals bought a net 60.3 billion won worth of shares and foreign investors bought a net 33.5 billion won worth. Institutions sold a net 86.2 billion won of stocks.
Most large-cap shares closed bearish.
Samsung Electronics lost 1.71 percent, closing at 46,050 won to snap a six-day winning streak. SK Hynix, the world’s No. 2 memory chip maker, finished 1.97 percent lower at 74,600 won.
Pharmaceutical firms also ended lower, with Celltrion losing 2.12 percent to reach 184,500 won, and Samsung BioLogics down 2.88 percent at 287,000 won. Hanmi Pharmaceutical fell 0.67 percent to 297,000 won.
Auto shares, meanwhile, ended in positive terrain, with leading automaker Hyundai Motor moving up 0.38 percent to 133,500 won and auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis up 1.3 percent at 234,500 won. Hyundai Motor’s sister company, Kia Motors, added 1.31 percent to 42,650 won.
The Kosdaq fell 8.14 points, or 1.21 percent, to end the session at 666.28.
The tech-heavy index was dragged down by foreign and institutional selling of semiconductor shares and a 1.1 percent fall in Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight.
The won closed at 1,181.3 to the dollar, up 3.7 from Tuesday’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year bonds fell 3.2 basis points to 1.40 percent. The yield on 10-year bonds fell 2.7 basis points to 1.55 percent.
BY KIM HE-YU, YONHAP [kim.heyu@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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