Kospi’s losing streak brings it to 7-month low
Stocks again retreated to reach a seven-month low Thursday as foreigners and individual investors offloaded local shares throughout the day. The won lost ground against the dollar.The benchmark Kospi fell 7.21 points, or 0.36 percent, to close at 2,017.34. Trading volume was low at 455 million shares worth 4.36 trillion won, with losers outnumbering gainers 584 to 252.
Foreigners net offloaded 4.9 billion won worth of shares while retail investors net sold 86.2 billion won. Institutions, however, were net buyers at 82.5 billion won.
Large cap shares ended mixed across the board.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched down 0.33 percent to 45,200 won but No.2 chipmaker SK Hynix gained 1.04 percent to 77,700 won. Rival LG Electronics fell 1.84 percent to 64,100 won, and LG Display lost 0.69 percent to 14,400 won.
Bio shares ended mixed. Celltrion remained unchanged at 170,500 won, but Samsung BioLogics ended 0.71 percent lower at 278,000 won. Hanmi Pharmaceutical advanced 2.24 percent to 296,500 won.
Auto shares closed mixed as well. Hyundai Motor, the country’s leading automaker by sales, fell 0.79 percent to 125,500 won, and its sister company Kia Motors dropped 2.06 percent to 42,850 won. But auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis rose 1.04 percent to 243,500 won.
NCSoft skyrocketed 4.26 percent to 502,000 won, but Netmarble fell 0.77 percent to 90,100 won. Kakao dropped 0.39 percent to 126,500 won.
Telecom companies closed lower. No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom went 1.81 percent lower to 244,000 won, and KT decreased 0.76 percent to 27,600 won. LG U+ fell 1.92 percent to 12,750 won.
Leading steelmaker Posco went down 0.67 percent to 224,000 won, and LG Chem lost 1.48 percent to 332,500 won. Korea’s top internet portal operator Naver added 1.81 percent to 140,500 won.
The secondary Kosdaq dropped 7.92 points, or 1.26 percent, to close at 622.26. The tech- and bio-heavy index ended in the negative terrain as foreigners and institutions mass offloaded local shares after seeing Nasdaq plunge 1.19 percent overnight.
The won closed at 1,188.50 won against the dollar, up 5.40 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended lower. The yield on three-year bonds gained 1.7 basis points to 1.309 percent, and the return on 10-year bonds advanced 2.0 basis points to 1.410 percent.
BY KO JUN-TAE [ko.juntae@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)