Kospi falls to lowest since September
The Kospi fell to its lowest level in four months, retreating 1.1 percent or 21.1 points to close at 1,904.33, the lowest since Sept. 8, 2015.Foreign investors continued to sell off Kospi shares for the 24th consecutive trading day, offloading 82.4 billion won ($68.6 million) in electronics shares, 42.1 billion won in logistics, 41.8 billion won in chemical and 35.3 billion won in financial.
Among the losers, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction fell to a record low by plummeting 22.3 percent, after it announced it would seek to restructure its debts with creditor Korea Development Bank.
The biggest drop previously recorded by the company was in September 2007, when its shares fell 18 percent.
The company is expected to post its sixth consecutive year of losses in 2015 because of weak demand for ships, investment in a shipyard in the Philippines and labor disputes.
The company had 233.5 billion won in cash and cash equivalents at the end of September, down from 350.5 billion won at the end of 2014.
“The weakening demand for new ships is hitting Hanjin Heavy,” said Park Moo-hyun, an analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.
“The Philippines yard hasn’t been generating much business because there are so many delays in delivering the ships to customers.”
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics shares slipped 1.02 percent to close at 1,163,000 won, further distancing itself from the 1,200,000 mark it failed to defend on Wednesday.
The nation’s No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor also continued its declining trend to close at 137,500 won, losing another 1.79 percent.
The secondary Kosdaq dropped 1.11 percent or 7.61 points to close at 679.66.
Korea’s sovereign bonds rose, pushing the 10-year yield to a record low.
The yield on government bonds maturing December 2025 declined two basis points to close at 2.02 percent in Seoul, Korea Exchange prices showed.
The yield reached 2 percent earlier, the lowest on record for a 10-year benchmark note. The three-year yield was little changed to 1.64 percent.
BY KIM JEE-HEE, BLOOMBERG [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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