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Seoul shares snap 4-day bull run on foreign selling binge; won sharply down

Published: 04 Nov. 2025, 17:25

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 4,121.74 points on Nov. 4, down 100.13 points, or 2.37 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares sank by more than 2 percent on Tuesday to snap their four-day winning streak on massive foreign sell-offs. The Korean won sharply lost ground against the U.S. dollar.

The Kospi lost 100.13 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 4,121.74, falling back below the 4,200 mark just a day after it reached the milestone.

Trade volume was heavy at 421.1 million shares worth 20.7 trillion won ($14.4 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 504 to 380.

Foreigners and institutions unloaded local shares worth 2.2 trillion won and 498.5 billion won, respectively, for profit-taking, while retail investors continued their buying spree by net purchasing 2.7 trillion won.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.46 percent on blue-chip tech shares, while the S&P 500 added 0.17 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.47 percent.

Amazon Web Services surged 4 percent following a multiyear $38 billion deal with OpenAI, and Nvidia rose 2.17 percent on news that the Donald Trump administration approved the export of Nvidia chips for Microsoft's data centers in the United Arab Emirates.

"The Kospi is now taking a breather after the recent surges driven by expectations surrounding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering last week," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said.

"In particular, shares that led the recent bull run, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, as well as those that benefited from Korea's tariff deal with the United States, like automakers and shipbuilders, lost ground," he explained.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slid 3.51 percent to 107,200 won, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix plunged 5.48 percent to 586,000 won after they both surged to record highs on Monday.

Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy shot down 6.59 percent to 567,000 won, Hanwha Ocean dropped 1.59 percent to 136,600 won, and HD Korea Shipbuilding pulled back 4.59 percent to 457,500 won.

Defense industry leader Hanwha Aerospace lost 3.07 percent to 1.01 million won, and internet portal operator Naver went down 2.37 percent to 268,000 won.

Automotive giant Hyundai Motor plunged 5.32 percent to 276,000 won, and its sister, Kia, declined 3.31 percent to 113,800 won.

Financial shares were among the few gainers, with KB Financial jumping 2.12 percent to 120,500 won and Shinhan Financial soaring 3.1 percent to 76,400 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,437.9 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 0.64 percent from the previous session of 1,428.8 won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys shed 1.2 basis points to 2.729 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds decreased 0.4 basis points to 2.879 percent.

Yonhap