Kospi tumbles as U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico spark Korean business concerns

Home > Business > Finance

print dictionary print

Kospi tumbles as U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico spark Korean business concerns

Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul, which shows the Kospi opening on Feb. 3. [NEWS1]

Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul, which shows the Kospi opening on Feb. 3. [NEWS1]

 
Korean stocks opened sharply lower Monday on concerns over the United States' decision to impose high tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, potentially affecting Korean businesses operating there.
 
The benchmark Kospi plunged 56.45 points, or 2.24 percent, to 2,460.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
 

Related Article

 
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on goods from China.
 
The move, set to begin Tuesday, is expected to adversely affect Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other major Korean companies that have production bases in those countries.
 
Blue chips retreated across the board, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics down 2.1 percent and its chipmaking rival SK hynix plunging 3.77 percent.
 
Automotive and steel shares also traded in negative territory. Hyundai Motor and Kia slipped 1.46 percent and 2.25 percent, respectively, and top steelmaker Posco Holdings plummeted 4.03 percent.
 
Financial and bio shares also lost ground. KB Financial was down 2.07 percent, and Samsung Biologics slumped 3.15 percent.
 
The local currency was trading at 1,449.10 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., sharply down 16.4 won from the previous session.

Yonhap
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)