Seoul: Shares suffer biggest fall since June 2012; won's loss capped

[SEOUL] Seoul shares had their sharpest daily percentage loss in more than 3 years on Monday as investors avoided bets on riskier assets following sharp drops in Chinese stock markets.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 2.5 per cent, to 1,829.81 points, its biggest percentage fall since June, 4, 2012. At one point, the index was down 4.0 per cent.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd touched 1,033,000 won, the lowest intraday level since Jan 18, 2012, before cutting losses to close down 2 per cent at 1,079,000 won.

Foreigners offloaded local shares for a 13th straight session, the longest selling streak since June 2013. During the streak, they have sold a net 2.65 trillion won (S$3.12 billion) of shares on the main board.

The South Korean won closed local trade lower by 0.3 per cent to 1,199.0 to the dollar. The losses were capped as local dealers suspected dollar-selling smoothing operations by foreign exchange authorities. The moves by authorities were sparked by tensions between North and South Korea.

REUTERS