Stocks tumble further amid concerns over regulations

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Stocks tumble further amid concerns over regulations

Published: 08 Sep. 2021, 17:20

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 3,162.99 points on Wednesday, down 24.43 points, or 0.77 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks extended losses to the second straight session Wednesday as investors offloaded tech shares amid concerns about regulations against online platform giants. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi shed 24.43 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 3,162.99 points.

Trading volume was high at about 839.72 million shares worth some 16.89 trillion won ($14.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 560 to 307.

Foreigners sold a net 282 billion won worth of local shares, and institutions offloaded a net 119 billion won. Retail investors picked up a net 421 billion won.

The main index started off on a downbeat note amid investor concerns over the pace of the U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic-induced slump after a disappointing U.S. jobs report released Friday.

The Kospi traded bearish throughout the session as investors dumped online platform stocks amid growing concerns about regulations against their market dominance.

A day earlier, ruling Democratic Party lawmakers voiced concerns over the market dominance of tech giant Kakao and its rapid business expansion, from banking to ride-hailing, in recent years.

"As uncertainties about economic recovery persist due to the continued spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant, [the Kospi] fell on worries of regulation against local platform companies," Daishin Securities' Lee Kyoung-min said.

Lee added online platform shares were further weighed down after financial authorities said Tuesday that some fintech companies' services would face new regulations later this month.

Kakao plummeted 10.06 percent to 138,500 won, and internet portal operator Naver tumbled 7.87 percent to 409,500 won.

Samsung Electronics added 0.26 percent to 76,300 won, and chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.44 percent to 106,000 won.

Chemical firm LG Chem shed 0.26 percent to 756,000 won.

The Kosdaq fell 17.21 points, or 1.63 percent, to close at 1,037.22.

The local currency closed at 1,166.7 won against the dollar, up 8.9 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds added 2.9 basis points to 1.493 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond gained 4.8 basis points to 1.37 percent.

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