Seoul shares fell for the third straight session Friday in line with overnight losses on Wall Street. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) tumbled 28.89 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 2,795.46.
Trade volume was slightly moderate at 417.9 million shares worth 9.4 trillion won (US$6.78 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 574 to 302.
Institutions and foreign investors dumped local shares worth a combined 781.2 billion won, while retail investors bought 779.8 billion won worth of shares.
Overnight, Wall Street shares tumbled as a weeklong decline in tech and chip stocks expanded to other blue chips. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite dropped 0.78 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.29 percent.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, assessed the U.S. market correction as "technical due to short-term overheating and increased fatigue from recent steep gains."
In Seoul, most blue chips finished in negative territory. Chip giant Samsung Electronics shed 2.88 percent to end at 84,400 won and industry rival SK hynix lost 1.41 percent to close at 209,500 won.
Automotive stocks also extended their losses from the past few sessions. Hyundai Motor slid 0.77 percent to 258,500 won and smaller affiliate Kia tumbled 3 percent to 116,300 won.
Energy and financial shares also retreated. Leading refiner SK Innovation dropped 3.36 percent to 112,000 won and Shinhan Financial fell 1.66 percent to 53,400 won.
The local currency had been trading at 1,386.7 won against the greenback as of 3:30 p.m., down 5 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
