Seoul: Stocks end over 1% lower on Wall Street tech plunge

[SEOUL] South Korean shares dropped on Friday, tracking losses in wider Asian stock markets after a selloff in US technology stocks overnight hurt risk appetite. The Korean won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

By 06:32 GMT, the benchmark Kospi fell 27.65 points or 1.15 per cent to 2,368.25. The Kospi ended the week 0.6 per cent higher, its second straight week of gains.

Foreigners were net sellers of 466.9 billion won (S$0.54 billion) worth of shares on the main board.

It was about time for big US tech stocks to undergo corrections, and investors are waiting for China trade data and other economic indicators next week to see if there should be a bigger selloff, said Na Jeong Hwan, an analyst at DS Investment & Securities.

Samsung SDI and Samsung Electronics dropped 3 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively, while LG Electronics declined 2 per cent.

Asiana Airlines ended 5.3 per cent lower after reports said HDC Hyundai Development Co's planned takeover of the airline has fallen through.

Meanwhile, doctors in South Korea agreed to end a two-week strike which had hindered efforts to curb a new wave of coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Chung Sye Kyun said.

The won was quoted at 1,189.6 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.1 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,188.3.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.7 per cent.

The Kospi has risen 7.8 per cent so far this year, and gained 7.5 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 1,335.62 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 902, the number of advancing shares was 199.

The won has lost 2.8 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

REUTERS