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Kospi slides 0.62% as tech, shipyard stocks lose ground

Published: 25 Mar. 2025, 16:36

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,615.81 points on March 25, down 16.26 points, or 0.62 percent, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares in Seoul ended lower Tuesday for the second straight session due to tech losses, despite eased concerns over the Donald Trump administration's tariff sanctions. The won fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi dropped 11.26 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 2,615.81. The Kosdaq shed 8.96 points, or 1.24 percent, to 711.26.

Trade volume was moderate at 431.77 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won ($5.5 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 576 to 303.

The Kospi opened higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, but reversed later.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.42 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite advanced 2.27 percent.

Foreigners and individuals sold a net 78.2 billion won and 63.5 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, exceeding institutions' stock purchases valued at 67.9 billion won.

The index didn't fall sharply as investors got some relief from signs that U.S. trade sanctions will be narrower than feared, analysts said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signaled that trade partners would possibly receive exemptions or reductions in tariffs depending on their contributions to creating jobs in the United States.

Tech stocks were lead decliners.

Samsung Electronics fell 1.16 percent to 59,800 won, and chipmaker SK hynix declined 1.65 percent to 208,000 won.

Shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries dropped 3.85 percent to 287,000 won, while Hanwha Ocean plunged 6.29 percent to 68,500 won.

Among gainers, battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 1.21 percent to 335,500 won and bio firm Celltrion added 0.43 percent to 185,900 won.

Finance shares also closed higher. KB Financial Group gained 0.12 percent to 81,900 won and Shinhan Financial Group rose 0.41 percent to 48,800 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,469.20 won against the dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 1.5 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended lower. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 0.8 basis points to 2.612 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds rose 8.8 basis points to end at 4.342 percent.

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