Seoul: Shares post biggest fall in nearly three weeks on virus woes

[SEOUL] South Korean shares ended lower on Thursday, as lingering domestic Covid-19 worries weighed on sentiment, while technology stocks tracked an overnight slump in Wall Street peers over inflation worries. The won ended flat, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark Kospi closed down 46.98 points or 1.50 per cent at 3,086.75, marking its sharpest decline since Jan 29.

It slid 0.93 per cent on Wednesday.

Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix tumbled 1.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent each, towing benchmark declines, while other heavyweights LG Chem and Naver also dropped 1.9 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Concerns over the virus situation in South Korea persist as the country reported 621 new infections as of Wednesday midnight, unchanged from a day earlier when it marked the highest level in 39 days.

Foreigners were net sellers of 858.9 billion won (S$1.03 billion) worth of shares on the main board.

The won ended at 1,107.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, remaining flat from its previous close of 1,107.5.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,107.4 per dollar, down 0.2 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,107.0.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.02 point to 111.60.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.1 basis point to 0.985 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.8 basis point to 1.854 per cent.

REUTERS