South Korea: Shares slide as US, China spar over Hong Kong protests

[SEOUL] South Korean shares lost more than 1 per cent on Wednesday as rising tension between the United States and China over Hong Kong protests dimmed hopes for a trade deal. 

China made stern representations to a representative of the US embassy in Beijing on Wednesday after the Senate unanimously passed legislation aimed at protecting human rights in Hong Kong.

The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI ended down 27.92 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 2,125.32, marking its lowest close in a week.

In addition to uncertainties in trade talks between Beijing and Washington, foreigners dumped domestic shares ahead of the rebalancing of MSCI index, said Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

Foreigners were net sellers of KOSPI shares for the tenth consecutive session, the longest since Aug 19. On Wednesday, they net sold US$285.59 million worth of shares on the main board.

The KOSPI has risen 4.13 per cent so far this year, and gained 6.5 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 573.69 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 905, the number of advancing shares was 134.

REUTERS