Less foreign buys, weak Chinese markets see Seoul shares stumble

[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean market shed early gains on less foreign buying and poor-performing Chinese stocks, ending flat for the day. The Korean won, however, strengthened against the US dollar.

The benchmark KOSPI fell 2.71 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,047.76.

The main index fell after marking a 1.61 percent increase for the whole of last week. On Aug. 12, it closed at 2,050.47 points, hitting fresh yearly highs.

Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at LIG Investment & Securities, said the local stocks fell “as foreigners reduced their purchasing volume of local stocks and the Chinese stock market turned lower.”

Still, foreigners turned into net buyers, purchasing 24 billion won ($22 million) in local stocks, while institutions sold a net 12 billion won on profit-taking.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.32 percent, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite index climbing 0.56 percent.

Most large-cap stocks advanced across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.49 percent to 1,568,000 won and SK Innovation, the nation‘s largest refiner, gained 2.3 percent to 155,500 won.

In contrast, top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 2.21 percent to 133,000 won, and top auto parts-maker Hyundai Mobis declined 0.77 percent to 258,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,092.20 won against the US dollar, strengthening 11.1 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)