Kospi ends down as HYBE takes hit on foreign investors' selling

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,623.02 points on Tuesday, down 0.24 percent, or 6.42 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks finished slightly lower on Tuesday despite overnight gains on Wall Street with foreign investors claiming profits, while the won rose against dollar.

The Kospi fell 6.42 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,623.02. Trade volume was moderate at 316 million shares worth 9.43 trillion won ($6.84 billion). Winners, however, outpaced losers 671 to 403.

Foreign investors sold a net 288.8 billion won, while institutions and individuals bought a combined 267.7 billion won worth of shares.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.1 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 percent as investors looked forward to positive first-quarter corporate earnings reports this week.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said there still remains "variables to consider to be fully confident of an upward trend of the market."

He added that cautious investor sentiment surrounding scheduled earnings reports of major domestic companies, such as SK hynix and Hyundai Motor, could limit the Kospi's upward momentum for the time being.

Tech shares extended their losses from the previous session, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.79 percent to 75,500 won and SK hynix dropping 0.35 percent to 171,000 won.

Steel and battery shares also retreated, with Posco Holdings falling 0.89 percent to 391,500 won and LG Energy Solution sliding 2.25 percent to 370,000 won.

Energy and chemical shares lost ground as well as SK Innovation fell 1.99 percent to 108,400 won and LG Chem shed 1.59 percent to 372,000.

HYBE fell 1.18 percent following news of its managerial dispute with ADOR, the subsidiary label behind K-pop girl group NewJeans.

In contrast, financial and auto shares gained ground, with KB Financial Group advancing 1.01 percent to 70,200 won and Hyundai Motor rising 1.84 percent to 249,500 won.

The local currency ended at 1,378.3 won against the greenback, down 0.9 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq lost 0.38 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 845.44.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 2.4 basis points to 3.489 percent, and the return on benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds fell 1.3 basis points to 4.610 percent.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN, YONHAP [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]