Seoul: Stocks, won crawl at 4-week lows

[SEOUL] South Korean shares and won were set to mark six straight sessions of declines and lingered at four-week lows early on Tuesday as market demand remained subdued amid lingering concerns about geopolitical risks.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) was down 0.6 per cent at 2,121.16 points as of 0227 GMT after touching its weakest intraday level since March 13.

The won was quoted at 1,147.4 against the US dollar, the lowest since March 15. It was down 0.5 per cent from Monday's close of 1,142.2.

Bae Sung-Young, a stock analyst at KB Securities said overall, markets seem to be taking a breather after several global events and predicted that such calm may last in the short-term.

"The Kospi will remain in a tight range until late April since market players are likely to hold their breath, checking first quarter earnings from companies," he added.

Foreign investors were poised to mark a seventh consecutive stock-selling session, but their net selling amount remained small near mid-session.

Web portal Naver Corp dropped more than 5 per cent on expectations that the company's first-quarter earnings will be weaker.

Hyundai Motor lost 1.3 per cent.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 499 to 267.

June futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.06 point to 109.30.

REUTERS