South Korea: Stocks down nearly 1%

[SEOUL] South Korean stocks fell nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday as economic dispute between South Korea and Japan weighed on sentiment, while US-China trade conflict worries piled on.

The KOSPI fell 18.95 points or 0.91 per cent to 2,072.92.

Export curbs imposed by Japan in its dispute with South Korea will adversely effect global technology companies and hurt the operations of tech giant Samsung in the Texas state capital of Austin, a South Korean government source said on Wednesday.

South Korean shares got off shaky start by US President Donald  Trump's negative comment that the United States still has a long way to go to conclude a trade deal with China, but could impose tariffs on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods if it needed to do so.

Shares extended their losses due to conflict between South Korea and Japan, said Kim Ji-hyung, analyst at Hanyang Securities.

The KOSPI has risen 1.56 per cent so far this year, and gained 1.2 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

REUTERS