Home > Business > Finance

Kospi drops nearly 1% as market processes martial law fallout

Published: 05 Dec. 2024, 16:55 Updated: 05 Dec. 2024, 19:35

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,441.85 points on Thursday, down 0.9 percent, or 22.15 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares closed lower for a second straight session on Thursday as President Yoon Suk Yeol faces an impeachment vote this weekend following his botched declaration of martial law. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi fell 22.15 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 2,441.85.

The Kosdaq fell 6.21 points, or 0.92 percent, to 670.94.

Trade volume was moderate at 502.49 million shares worth 9.29 trillion won ($6.56 billion), with losers far outpacing winners 724 to 175.

Foreigners sold a net 319.19 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting institutions and individuals' stock purchases valued at 221.99 billion won.

Late Tuesday, Yoon declared martial law, accusing the Democratic Party of being "antistate forces" paralyzing the operation of the nation with impeachment motions and a downsized budget bill.

But Yoon abandoned the martial law attempt, the country's first such motion in over four decades, early Wednesday after the National Assembly voted against the declaration.

Opposition parties submitted an impeachment motion against Yoon on Wednesday, with a parliamentary vote for the motion set for Saturday.

Large-cap stocks closed bearish, but chipmakers advanced.

Hyundai Motor fell 2.15 percent to 204,500 won, LG Energy Solution declined 1.8 percent to 382,000 won and Korean Air shed 0.81 percent to 24,550 won.

SK Innovation dropped 1.59 percent to 111,300 won, steelmaker Posco Holdings declined 2.38 percent to 266,500 won, and leading beverage firm Hitejinro was down 2.15 percent to 20,450 won.

Samsung Electronics rose 1.13 percent to 53,700 won and SK hynix jumped 2.98 percent to 173,000 won.

Among other gainers, Korea Zinc jumped 19.69 percent to 2,000,000 won and HMM gained 2.19 percent to 18,210 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,415.10 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 1.6 basis points to 2.609 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds fell 3.8 basis points to 4.177 percent.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]