South Korea: Stocks close over 1% lower on worries over Sino-US trade deal delay

[SEOUL] South Korean shares ended over 1 per cent lower on Thursday on worries about a further delay in the US-China trade deal, and as foreigners continued to sell equities ahead of the rebalancing of MSCI index. 

The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI ended down 28.72 points, or 1.35 per cent, at 2,096.60. The benchmark index dropped for the fourth straight session, and posted its lowest close since Oct 31.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills to back protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights, with President Donald Trump expected to sign them into law, despite delicate trade talks with Beijing.

The trade deal is likely to be postponed to next year, said Huh Jae-hwan, an analyst at Eugene Investment. The news about possible US troop withdrawal from South Korea had limited impact as it is not directly related to corporate results, he added.

The United States is considering a significant cut to its troop numbers in South Korea if Seoul does not contribute more to the cost of the deployment, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on Thursday.

Foreigners were net sellers of around US$484.60 million worth of shares on the main board, the most since Aug 6. They extended selloff for the eleventh consecutive session.

The KOSPI has risen 2.72 per cent so far this year, and gained 3.9 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index was 572.00 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 905, the number of advancing shares was 125.

REUTERS