Seoul: Stocks end 1% lower as Covid-19 cases spike

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell more than 1 per cent on Wednesday (Nov 17), as investors offloaded stocks following recent gains in the market, with surging Covid-19 cases dampening sentiment further. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

The Kospi ended down 34.79 points or 1.16 per cent at 2,962.42, after having gained up to 0.25 per cent in early trade. The index hit a 2-week high on Tuesday (Nov 16).

South Korea reported 3,187 new infections on Tuesday, the second-highest since the pandemic began and near the record 3,270 daily cases marked in late-September. This comes weeks after it took the first step toward "living with Covid-19".

Meanwhile, US retail sales surged more than expected, suggesting that inflation was not yet dampening consumer spending, but that did little to lift risk appetite in the South Korean markets.

Among the heavyweights, chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 0.84 per cent and 1.34 per cent, respectively, while platform company Naver slid 1.11 per cent.

Foreigners were net buyers of 76.7 billion won (S$88.1 million) worth of shares on the main board.

"It seems like there is growing scepticism about the country's 'With Corona(virus)' policy on surging new infections and number of critical patients," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

The won ended at 1,182.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.22 per cent lower than its previous close.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,182.3 per dollar, up 0.1 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,182.9.

In money and debt markets, December futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.03 point to 108.50.

The benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.8 basis points to 2.353 per cent.

REUTERS