Seoul: Shares extend losses on foreign selling, won down

[SEOUL] South Korean shares extended their losses and dropped as much as 2 per cent on Monday as foreign investors accelerated their sales toward the closing bell, with central bank meetings this week and Brexit concerns keeping buyers at bay.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) closed down 1.9 per cent at 1,979.06 points - after earlier falling as much as 2 per cent - for its biggest daily per centage loss since February 11 of this year.

Foreign investors sold a net 146.7 billion won (S$169.97 million) worth of Kospi shares for the day.

The South Korean won slumped amid the broad uptick in risk aversion.

The won was quoted at 1,173.4 to the US dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, down 0.7 per cent compared to Friday's close of 1,165.5.

REUTERS