Seoul shares down for 2nd day as impeachment vote looms over Yoon's botched martial law
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 for a second straight session on Wednesday as President Yoon Suk Yeol faces an impeachment vote this weekend following his botched declaration of martial law. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 22.15 points, or 0.90 percent, to close at 2,441.85.
Trade volume was moderate at 502.49 million shares worth 9.29 trillion won ($6.56 billion), with losers far outpacing winners 724 to 175.
Foreigners sold a net 319.19 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting institutions and individuals' stock purchases valued at 221.99 billion won.
Late Tuesday, Yoon declared martial law, accusing the main opposition Democratic Party of being "anti-state forces" paralyzing the operation of the nation with impeachment motions and a downsized budget bill.
But Yoon abandoned the martial law attempt, the country's first such motion in over four decades, early Wednesday after the National Assembly voted against the declaration.
Opposition parties submitted an impeachment motion against Yoon on Wednesday, with a parliamentary vote for the motion set on Saturday.
Large-cap stocks closed bearish, but chipmakers advanced.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 2.15 percent to 204,500 won, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution declined 1.8 percent to 382,000 won, and national flag carrier Korean Air shed 0.81 percent to 24,550 won.
Leading refiner SK Innovation dropped 1.59 percent to 111,300 won, steelmaker POSCO Holdings declined 2.38 percent to 266,500 won, and leading beverage firm HiteJinro was down 2.15 percent to 20,450 won.
But market behemoth Samsung Electronics rose 1.13 percent to 53,700 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix jumped 2.98 percent to 173,000 won.
Among other gainers, Korea Zinc, the world's largest refined zinc smelter, jumped 19.69 percent to 2,000,000 won, and No. 1 shipping firm HMM gained 2.19 percent to 18,210 won.
The local currency was trading at 1,415.10 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 5 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 2.3 basis points to 2.603 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds shed 2 basis points to 2.620 percent. (Yonhap)
