South Korea: Stocks finish lower as surge in virus cases hits sentiment

[SEOUL]  South Korean shares ended lower on Thursday after China's Hubei province reported a sharp jump in the death toll and new infections from the coronavirus outbreak. The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield was unchanged.

The KOSPI closed 5.42 points lower, or 0.24 per cent, at 2,232.96.

Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, reported a record 242 deaths as of Wednesday, bringing the toll to 1,310. Daily new cases in the province jumped to 14,840, up from 1,638 after officials started using a new diagnostic method.

The rise in number of new infections caused anxiety in the local market, which was also affected by a fall in Chinese stocks, Hana Financial Investment analyst Lee Young-gon said.

Foreigners were net buyers of US$233.59 million worth of shares on the main board.

The KOSPI has risen 1.60 per cent so far this year, and gained 1.8 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 628.81 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 905, the number of advancing shares was 257.

REUTERS