South Korea: Stocks slump on rising virus cases

[SEOUL] South Korean shares slumped on Friday, snapping four straight sessions of gains, as investors were rattled by surging virus cases in the country and across the world. 

The Seoul stock market's KOSPI ended down 45.04 points, or 2.16 per cent, at 2,040.22. For the week, the benchmark index gained 2.68 per cent.

Foreigners were net sellers of US$472.87 million worth of shares on the main board.

The KOSPI has fallen 7.16 per cent so far this year, and lost 6.9 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 854.12 million shares. Of the 904 traded issues, 121 shares advanced.

South Korea, which is battling the biggest outbreak outside China, reported 196 new cases and a total of 6,284 by early Friday. 

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The coronavirus outbreak spread across the United States, surfacing in at least four new states and San Francisco as Congress quickly approved more than US$8 billion to fight the outbreak.

REUTERS