Seoul: Stocks, won subdued; Samsung group shares slip

[SEOUL] South Korean shares and the won were barely changed on Friday, as investors waited to see if US President Donald Trump can rally his party to push through a healthcare bill.

The vote on the bill was seen as Trump's first policy test, and failure to pass it would cast doubt on his ability to deliver on promises of tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) closed down 0.2 per cent at 2,168.95 points.

The won was quoted at 1,122.6 to the US dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, almost unchanged from Thursday's close of 1,122.4.

Samsung group shares, however, sharply declined after Samsung Electronics said it would not adopt a holding company structure at this time.

Samsung Electronics lost 0.7 per cent, while Samsung C&T dropped 7.3 per cent and Samsung SDS 8.5 per cent.

Foreign investors sold a net 89.4 billion won (S$111.6 million) worth of Kospi shares.

For the week, the won was up 0.7 per cent, and the shares gained 0.2 per cent. The Kospi marked a third straight week of gains.

REUTERS