Kospi down at close on mixed results from Wall Street

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,628.62 points on Thursday, down 1.76 percent, or 47.13 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Stocks plummeted more than 1.7 percent Thursday as investors sought profits following the previous session's sharp rise amid mixed overnight results on Wall Street, while the Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.

The Kospi slumped 47.13 points, or 1.76 percent, to 2,628.62. Trade volume was slim at 304 million shares worth 8.72 trillion won ($ 6.35 billion), with losers outpacing winners 487 to 360.

Institutions and foreign investors combined sold a net 853.5 billion won, while retail investors purchased a net 872 billion won worth of shares.

On Wednesday, the main index spiked nearly 2 percent, backed by chipmakers and battery makers.

Overnight, Wall Street closed mixed as a disappointing earnings report from Meta Platforms put investors on edge ahead of other big tech earnings reports scheduled to be announced this week. The S&P 500 rose 0.02 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.1 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11 percent.

Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said the market underwent a correction due to profit-taking after a sharp rise the previous session.

Most blue chips lost ground. Samsung Electronics dropped 2.93 percent to 76,300 won, and SK hynix plummeted 5.12 percent to 170,600 won despite reporting improved first-quarter earnings.

Battery and steel shares also retreated. LG Energy Solution slid 3.25 percent to 372,500 won after announcing weak first-quarter earnings, and Posco Holdings dropped 0.88 percent to 392,500 won.

Hyundai Motor also fell 0.99 percent to 250,000 won after it reported weakened first-quarter vehicle sales due to a partial shutdown of one of its Korean plants. Kia, however, gained 0.34 percent to 116,600 won.

IT firms Naver decreased 0.54 percent to 182,700 won and Kakao fell 1.46 percent to 47,400 won.

The local currency closed at 1,375 won against the greenback, up 5.8 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq fell 8.97 points, or 1.04 percent, to close at 853.26.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 3 basis points to 3.54 percent, and the return on benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds gained 4.1 basis points to 4.642 percent.

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