Seoul: Stocks end at 2-week low, won down on North Korea worries

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell for the sixth consecutive session on Tuesday and finished near two-week lows, while the won weakened as tensions between North Korea and the United States continued to rattle investors.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) closed down 0.3 per cent at 2,374.32 points, its lowest close since Sept 14.

The won was quoted at 1,136.8 to the US dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, down 0.4 per cent from Monday's close of 1,131.8.

Foreign investors sold a net 385.3 billion won (S$457.7 million) worth of local equities on Tuesday, especially tech shares which had recently rallied.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 3.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, largely pulling down the whole tech sector by 3.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the automobile sector jumped 4.4 per cent on hopes that its China sales will not be as poor as what the investors had expected.

REUTERS