Seoul stocks retreat for fourth day as Covid spike continues

Finance

Published: 21 Jul. 2021, 18:42

Seoul stocks retreat for fourth day as Covid spike continues

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 3,215.91 points on Wednesday, down 16.79 points, or 0.52 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks retreated for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday, as the resurgence of the new coronavirus weakened investor sentiment for risk. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi slumped 16.79 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 3,215.91 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 973 million shares worth some 14.7 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 283 to 562.

Foreigners sold a net 516 billion won, and institutions offloaded a net 275 billion won, while retail investors bought 748 billion won.

Stocks got off to a strong start as bargain hunters sought to buy oversold stocks after the benchmark index lost nearly 2 percent in the past three sessions amid rising concerns over the fourth wave of the pandemic in the country.

Hopes of an economic rebound also backed the stock prices, with the country's exports increasing 32.8 percent on-year in the first 20 days of July.

But the key stock index increasingly lost ground as new Covid-19 cases soared to a fresh high of over 1,700 on Wednesday.

Cluster infections of highly contagious variants fanned investor worries about the pandemic's impact on corporate earnings.

"The hike in Covid-19 cases seems to have boxed the foreign exchange rate at a 1,150 won-range, and increased foreign selling," Daeshin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said.

Samsung Electronics lost 0.63 percent to 78,500 won, and chipmaker SK hynix declined 1.27 percent to 117,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver decreased 2.51 percent to 428,000 won, with its rival Kakao plunging 4.61 percent to 145,000 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics retreated 1.31 percent to 901,000 won, and Celltrion fell 2.01 percent to 267,500 won.

Automaker Hyundai Motor gained 0.44 percent to 228,000 won, while chemical firm LG Chem moved down 0.61 percent to 810,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,154 won to the dollar, up 3.6 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq lost 1.61 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at 1,042.03.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 2.5 basis points to 1.383 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond gained 3.0 points to 1.22 percent.

BY LEE TAE-HEE, YONHAP [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]