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Stocks slip after five-day winning streak

Published: 10 Jan. 2025, 16:33

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,515.78 points on Jan. 10, down 0.24 percent, or 6.12 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares ended a five-day winning streak Friday as investors moved to lock in profit from recent gains, mainly in tech shares. The won fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi shed 6.12 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 2,515.78.

Trade volume was moderate at 365.58 million shares worth 9.43 trillion won ($6.43 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 462 to 406.

The index opened higher, and moved within a tight range, before turning lower on selling by foreign and institutional investors.

Foreigners and institutions sold a net 39.62 billion won and 396.24 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors bought a net 337.46 billion won worth of shares.

U.S. markets were closed Thursday to observe a "national day of mourning" for former President Jimmy Carter.

"Following recent sharp gains, short-term volatility is expected, though the market would set the tone for traders, given the Kospi's valuation and other factors," Lee Kyung-min, an analyst from Daishin Securities, said.

Tech firm Samsung Electronics shed 1.43 percent to 55,300 won, and chipmaker SK hynix went down 0.73 percent to 203,500 won.

Electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution tumbled 2.79 percent to 348,500 won, and LG Chem dropped 1.61 percent to 245,000 won.

Major bio shares lost ground. Samsung Biologics decreased 0.6 percent to 1,000,000 won, and Celltrion inched down 0.22 percent to 185,100 won.

But carmakers finished markedly higher. Hyundai Motor surged 6.1 percent to 226,000 won after announcing that it had formed a strategic partnership with Nvidia for the development of advanced AI related to future mobility.

Its affiliate Kia jumped 2.23 percent to 105,600 won.

Portal operator Naver slid 0.25 percent to 202,000 won, while steelmaker Posco Holdings rose 0.38 percent to 262,000 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,465.0 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 4.5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. Three-year government bond yields rose 6.1 basis points to 2.561 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds fell by 1.8 basis points to 4.684 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]