Analysts predict Seoul shares may further decline

Seoul shares may fall further to 2,900 next week depending on upcoming global economic indicators and the Federal Reserve chairman's possible comments on a tighter monetary policy, analysts said Saturday.

The benchmark Kospi fell for a third straight day to end 1.3 percent lower at 2,970.68 points Friday.

Tech stocks led losses following the release of disappointing earnings results from U.S. tech giants Apple and Amazon.

Kospi is expected to move between 2,900 and 3,050 next week, with investors eyeing the Fed's upcoming major monetary policy decisions, as well as manufacturing data from China and the United States, and a U.S. jobs report, analysts said.

Korea's export and import data will serve as another factor to be considered to reorganize investors' portfolios, they said.

"The market is likely to fall further if the Fed announces the U.S. central bank will start the process of reducing its support of the economy by cutting back on its asset purchases and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell makes any 'hawkish' comments for tapering," Suh Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said by phone.

On Friday, most stocks declined across the board, with tech shares leading losses.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.3 percent to 69,800 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix declined 3.3 percent to 103,000 won, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor shed 1 percent to 208,000 won.

Yonhap