Seoul: Seoul shares closed lower, ending a six-session winning streak as investors took profits in technology and other large-cap stocks after recent gains. The Korean won sharply fell against the U.S. dollar.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 63.14 points, or 1 percent, to finish at 6,244.13. Despite this drop, the index enjoyed a weekly gain of 7.5 percent. Trading volume was heavy, with 1.14 billion shares worth 52.94 trillion won (US$36.8 billion) changing hands, and decliners outnumbering gainers 625 to 264.
The KOSPI has been in a bullish phase since the start of the year, breaking through the 4,500-point level on January 6 and surpassing the 5,000-point mark on January 27. On Wednesday, it crossed the 6,000-point level, less than a month later. On Thursday, the index jumped 3.67 percent to a record high of 6,307.27.
Institutional and retail investors purchased a net 491.99 billion won and 6.08 trillion won worth of shares, respectively, while foreign investors sold a net 6.83 trillion won. Analysts pointed out that the decline mirrored overnight losses in U.S. technology stocks, where investors engaged in profit-taking despite strong earnings from Nvidia Corp. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.18 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.03 percent.
"Some investors sold shares to lock in profits after the market had rallied sharply over the past six sessions," commented Lee Seong-hoon, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities Co. Technology stocks led the declines, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0.69 percent to 216,500 won, and chipmaking rival SK hynix declining 3.46 percent to 1,061,000 won.
Other notable declines included leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai, which dropped 1.02 percent to 292,500 won, and leading shipping firm HMM, which shed 4.26 percent to 21,350 won. Among gainers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor jumped 10.67 percent to an all-time high of 674,000 won, and defense firm Hanwha Aerospace climbed 0.08 percent to 1,195,000 won. Leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings rose 1.35 percent to 413,000 won, while Hyundai Steel surged 19.85 percent to 46,500 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,439.70 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 13.9 won from the previous session. Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 2.1 basis points to 3.041 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds declined 3.6 basis points to 3.278 percent.