Seoul: Stocks fall on year-end profit taking, virus scare

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell on Monday as uncertainty around the Omicron Covid-19 variant sullied risk sentiment and investors booked profits before the year-end following a rally last week.

The benchmark Kospi fell 12.88 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 2,999.55 as of 06:32.

Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said some retail investors are seen selling shares before the year ends to avoid certain capital gains taxes and other levies slapped on large shareholders. A surge in Covid-19 cases globally is also hurting investor sentiment, he added.

Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics fell 0.37 per cent and peer SK Hynix fell 1.56 per cent, while LG Chem rose 0.97 per cent and Naver fell 0.91 per cent.

Foreigners were net buyers of 43.4 billion won (S$49.5 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The Kospi has risen 4.39 per cent so far this year and gained 1.5 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 462.90 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 931, the number of advancing shares was 446.

REUTERS