Market falls slightly due to heavy selling
Published: 22 Apr. 2015, 21:01
The Kospi’s shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday, weighed down by heavy institutional and retail selling, with falls in defense shares including those of Korea Electric Power Corp. and SK Telecom bringing down the market.
The Kospi ended down 0.04 percent, or 0.9 points, at 2,143.89 points, falling for a second consecutive session after the latest set of gains that had lifted the market up 12 percent year-on-year.
Heavy selling by institutional and retail investors pulled the Kospi down slightly as they sold 418.4 billion won and 274.3 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.
Foreign buyers supported the market, net purchasing 709 billion won in shares.
Foreign investors have net bought stocks on the Kospi for 12 consecutive trading days whereas institutional investors have been net sellers for eight trading days.
Fund houses were sold on the back of rising fund redemptions by individuals, analysts said.
“An appetite to lock in profits was ripe on the market’s recent rally,” said Min Byung-kyu, a market analyst at Yuanta Securities.
“We are also seeing the cherry-picking of shares as earnings reports come out. There will be ups and downs, but we remain upbeat and the market will probably reach 2,200 points by May,” he added.
Shares in Kepco, a state utilities company, fell 1.2 percent while SK Telecom, a wireless carrier, declined 2.2 percent. LG Household & Health Care dipped 4.2 percent.
Technology stocks outperformed other sectors. Samsung Electronics, the largest share on the main bourse, rose 1.2 percent, while Naver, a web portal, advanced 0.8 percent.
The tech-heavy secondary market Kosdaq took a breather from its upbeat rally that lasted for five consecutive trading days. It dropped 1.56 percent, or 11.18 points, from the previous trade to close at 703.34 as institutional and foreign investors both unloaded their shares to profit from the recent upswing.
The won fell 3.8 percent to 1,079.60 won per dollar at the market’s 3 p.m. close in Seoul. Korea’s three-year government bonds ended unchanged.
BY PARK JUNG-YOUN [[email protected]]
The Kospi ended down 0.04 percent, or 0.9 points, at 2,143.89 points, falling for a second consecutive session after the latest set of gains that had lifted the market up 12 percent year-on-year.
Heavy selling by institutional and retail investors pulled the Kospi down slightly as they sold 418.4 billion won and 274.3 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.
Foreign buyers supported the market, net purchasing 709 billion won in shares.
Foreign investors have net bought stocks on the Kospi for 12 consecutive trading days whereas institutional investors have been net sellers for eight trading days.
Fund houses were sold on the back of rising fund redemptions by individuals, analysts said.
“An appetite to lock in profits was ripe on the market’s recent rally,” said Min Byung-kyu, a market analyst at Yuanta Securities.
“We are also seeing the cherry-picking of shares as earnings reports come out. There will be ups and downs, but we remain upbeat and the market will probably reach 2,200 points by May,” he added.
Shares in Kepco, a state utilities company, fell 1.2 percent while SK Telecom, a wireless carrier, declined 2.2 percent. LG Household & Health Care dipped 4.2 percent.
Technology stocks outperformed other sectors. Samsung Electronics, the largest share on the main bourse, rose 1.2 percent, while Naver, a web portal, advanced 0.8 percent.
The tech-heavy secondary market Kosdaq took a breather from its upbeat rally that lasted for five consecutive trading days. It dropped 1.56 percent, or 11.18 points, from the previous trade to close at 703.34 as institutional and foreign investors both unloaded their shares to profit from the recent upswing.
The won fell 3.8 percent to 1,079.60 won per dollar at the market’s 3 p.m. close in Seoul. Korea’s three-year government bonds ended unchanged.
BY PARK JUNG-YOUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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