The Business Times

South Korea: Stocks fall as jump in virus cases stoke economic worries

Published Thu, Feb 20, 2020 · 07:49 AM

[SEOUL] South Korean stocks fell on Thursday as a spike in new coronavirus cases in the country fanned worries about the economic impact of the epidemic.

The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI ended down 14.84 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 2,195.50.

South Korea's government reported 31 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, after a new outbreak traced to church services in the southwestern city of Daegu, bringing the number of people infected in the country to 82. 

The fast spread of the virus heightened investors' fears, which weighed on the won, said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. 

Foreigners were net buyers of US$93.22 million worth of shares on the main board.

The KOSPI is down 0.10 per cent so far this year, but gained 2.6 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions. 

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The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 697.35 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 904, the number of advancing shares was 186. 

REUTERS

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