Kospi closes lower as Trump's tariff plans trigger concerns

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Kospi closes lower as Trump's tariff plans trigger concerns

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,518.03 points on Jan. 21, down 2.02 points, or 0.08 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,518.03 points on Jan. 21, down 2.02 points, or 0.08 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

 
Shares finished lower for the third consecutive session Tuesday as investor sentiment was dragged down by a set of protectionist trade policies by U.S. President Donald Trump on his first day in office. The won's value rose to a one-month high against the dollar.
 
The Kospi fell 2.02 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 2,518.03, extending its losing streak to three sessions. The Kosdaq fell 1.59 points, or 0.22 percent, to 726.07.
 
Trade volume was moderate at 565.7 million shares worth 9.2 trillion won ($6.38 billion), with decliners outnumbering winners 485 to 386.
 
Offshore investors dumped a net 173.5 billion won, offsetting a net purchase of 61.7 billion won and 55.2 billion won by institutions and individual investors, respectively.
 
On his first day in office on Monday, Trump emphasized the "America First" policy and said he plans to enact tariffs of up to 25 percent on Mexico and Canada at the beginning of February.
 
Later, he ordered federal agencies to review free trade deals, likely including the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, and assess the source of U.S. trade deficits with foreign countries.
 
In Seoul, battery, metal and bio stocks drove the daily decline.
 
Steel giant Posco Holdings slumped 4.8 percent to 258,000 won, and Korea Zinc, a nonferrous metal smelter, plunged 8.55 percent to 759,000 won.
 
Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics retreated 1.38 percent to 1,001,000 won, and Celltrion dropped 0.55 percent to 179,700 won.
 
On the other hand, chipmakers finished higher as industry leader Samsung Electronics rose 0.19 percent to 53,500 won and SK hynix added 2.83 percent to 218,000 won.
 
The local currency was trading at 1,439.5 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 12.2 won from the previous session. It is the highest closing price at 3:30 p.m. since Dec. 20, when it hit 1,435.5 won.
 
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. Three-year government bond yields fell 4.4 basis points to 2.58 percent. The return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds stayed flat at 4.626 percent as markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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