Foreigners dump stocks for 20th straight session
Stocks sank 4 percent Wednesday as foreign investors continued to sell local shares for a 20th straight session. The local currency dropped sharply against the dollar.After a choppy session, the Kospi sank 69.18 points, or 3.94 percent, to close at 1,685.46. Trading volume was high at 123 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($9.67 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 574 to 291.
The stock market lost steam as foreigners again offloaded local shares.
Foreign investors dumped a net 575 billion won, and institutions sold a net 620 billion won. Retail investors scooped up a net 1.15 trillion won.
Still, analysts here insisted Korea’s stock market may increasingly diverge from the peaks and valleys in the United States indexes.
“The stock market may show different movements from that of the United States because the coronavirus outbreak appears to be stabilizing in China and Korea,” said Park Jong-dae, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment.
Korea has so far reported over 9,800 infection cases of Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, but its daily increase has recently remained at around 100 or fewer cases. The country added 101 new cases to the total Wednesday.
Most large caps ended in negative terrain.
Samsung Electronics plunged 4.08 percent to 45,800 won. SK hynix tumbled 5.88 percent to 78,400 won.
The won closed at 1,230.50 won per dollar, up 13.10 won from the previous session’s close.
The secondary Kosdaq was down 17.23 points, or 3.03 percent, to close at 551.84.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year bonds added 2.4 basis points to 1.094 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bond lost 4.5 basis points to reach 0.67 percent.
BY KIM YEON-AH, YONHAP [kim.yeonah@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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