Seoul shares end lower amid weak GDP data, rate woes
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Seoul shares closed lower Thursday on tech losses amid concerns over weak economic growth and diminishing expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Korean won, however, snapped its 8-day losing streak against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.59 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 2,581.03. Trade volume was moderate, with 336.43 million shares worth 9.47 trillion won ($6.9 billion) changing hands, and losers outnumbering gainers 613 to 256.
Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 653 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' purchases, which totaled 621 billion won.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.96 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.6 percent.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Korea reported that the country's economy narrowly avoided contraction in the third quarter, growing just 0.1 percent on-quarter, far below the market's expected 0.5 percent gain.
In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led the declines.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 4.2 percent to 56,600 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 1.1 percent to 198,200 won, Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 5.2 percent to 228,500 won, and SK Innovation Co. was down 0.8 percent to 115,300 won.
Among gainers, Korea Zinc Co., the world's largest zinc smelter, soared by the daily upward limit of 30 percent to 1,138,000 won. State utility Korea Electric Power Corp. rose 5 percent to 23,050 won, and Korean Air Co. gained 0.6 percent to 23,450 won.
Korea Zinc shares surged as investors anticipated the results of a share buyback led by Chairman Choi Yun-beom, who is defending the company from a takeover bid by Young Poong Corp. and private equity firm MBK Partners. The closing price, significantly above the 890,000 won buyback offer, reflected expectations of an even higher bid in the ongoing battle for control, analysts said.
The won was trading at 1,380.20 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 2 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
