Lackluster last day of 2021 trading ends slightly down

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,977.65 points on Thursday, down 15.64 points, or 0.52 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

The stock market finished the final session of the year with lackluster trading Thursday as investors took to the sidelines amid a lack of market-moving events. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi shed 15.64 points, or 0.52 percent, to finish at 2,977.65.

Trading volume was a bit slim at about 454.04 million shares worth 8.59 trillion won ($7.23 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 485 to 377.

The index opened higher but fluctuated between positive and negative terrain throughout the session before ending up extending its losing run for a second consecutive session.

Institutions and foreigners offloaded a net 751 billion won and 228 billion won worth of local shares, respectively, while retailers picked up shares worth 953 billion won.

"Investors appear to have taken a wait-and-see approach in this year's final session with no concrete events. A low-volume session also often means choppy trading," Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said.

Most blue chips lost ground, though some tech and bio firms gained.

Samsung Electronics shed 0.63 percent to 78,300 won, while chipmaker SK hynix spiked 3.15 percent to 131,000 won after the company said that it has completed the first phase of its acquisition of Intel's NAND and solid-state drive business.

Market watchers also said that Samsung's production decline also worked positively for SK hynix as the move could help ease the supply glut of the chip market.

Internet portal operator Naver fell 0.92 percent to 378,500 won, and Kakao dropped 1.32 percent to 112,500 won.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 1.42 percent to 209,000 won, and its sister company Kia fell 1.44 percent to 82,200 won.

LG Chem sank 2.07 percent to 615,000 won, and steelmaker Posco went down 1.61 percent to 274,500 won.

The Kosdaq gained 5.93 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 1,033.98.

The local currency closed at 1,188.8 won against the dollar, up 2.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 1.9 basis points to 1.802 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond added 7.1 basis points to 1.55 percent.

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