Seoul: Stocks, won slide to multi-week lows on US-North Korea tensions

[SEOUL] South Korean shares ended at seven-week lows on Wednesday, hurt by a sell-off from foreign investors in the wake of heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea.

North Korea said on Wednesday it is considering plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam, just hours after President Donald Trump told the North that any threat to the United States would be met with "fire and fury".

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) closed down 1.1 per cent at 2,368.39 points, lowest closing level since June 21.

Offshore investors, who were net buyers on Monday and Tuesday, unloaded a net 259.7 billion won (S$314.26 million) worth of Kospi shares.

The South Korean won also faltered 0.9 per cent to its lowest close since July 13, standing at 1,135.2 to the US dollar at the conclusions of onshore trade.

REUTERS