Stocks drop ahead of major corporate earnings reports

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Stocks drop ahead of major corporate earnings reports

Published: 24 Apr. 2023, 17:04

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,523.50 points on Monday, down 0.82 percent, or 20.90 points, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended markedly lower Monday, led by big-cap tech losses, as investors took a pause ahead of corporate earnings season and amid concerns about potential impacts of the Sino-U.S. rivalry on business. The won fell to a yearly low against the dollar.

The Kospi shed 20.90 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 2,523.50, extending its losing streak to a third day. Trading volume was moderate at 914.5 million shares worth 11.36 trillion won ($8.53 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 697 to 203.

Offshore and retail investors shed a net 34.61 billion won and 80.8 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while institutions bought a net 104.16 billion won of shares.

Investors are awaiting the first-quarter earnings reports by major companies set to be released later this week. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and several other large companies were expected to report poor results over a global economic slowdown.

"The stock market is forecast to have a weak momentum for the time being on weak quarterly business results. Investors await corporate strategies to boost earnings such as chipmakers' production cuts," Daeshin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said.

Eyes are also on the upcoming summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden, where the two sides will explore ways to deepen ties in semiconductors, batteries and other key areas, among other issues.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 0.76 percent to 65,200 won, and SK hynix sank 2.13 percent to 87,200 won.

LG Energy Solution decreased 1.05 percent to 566,000 won, and Samsung SDI slid 1.09 percent to 726,000 won.

Naver inched down 0.16 percent to 190,000 won, and Kakao went down 1.21 percent to 57,200 won.

Carmakers ended higher following recent losses. Hyundai Motor rose 0.79 percent to 191,900 won and Kia grew 1.68 percent to 84,700 won.

The local currency ended at 1,334.8 won against the U.S. dollar, down 6.6 won from the previous session's close to hit the lowest figure this year.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 3.8 basis points to 3.230 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds jumped 3.9 basis points to 3.575 percent.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]