Seoul: South Korean stocks slid nearly 1 percent Tuesday to offset three straight sessions of gains as investors remained uncertain over the U.S. rate decision next month. The local currency sharply fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 30.5 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 3,179.36.
According to Yonhap News Agency, trade volume was moderate at 318.6 million shares worth 12.4 trillion won (US$8.89 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 540 to 321. Foreign investors sold a net 682.1 billion won, while individual investors bought a net 846.9 billion won. Institutional investors sold a net 263.8 billion won.
The decline occurred as investors took profits from recent gains that had been driven by hopes of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next month. This was amid concerns that the market's optimism might have been excessive. Notably, the overnight summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump ended without major unexpected developments, providing some relief to investors.
Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at iM Securities, commented on the summit, stating, "Considering the summit was aimed at defending what we already have, rather than securing something new from the United States, the meeting was successful to some extent."
The stock market saw losses across various sectors. Samsung Electronics, the top-cap stock, fell 1.68 percent to 70,300 won, and Samsung SDI decreased by 0.23 percent to 221,000 won. The shipbuilding sector also experienced declines due to profit-taking, with Hanwha Ocean dropping 6.18 percent to 107,800 won and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries down 3.8 percent to 468,000 won. Financial stocks were not spared, as KB Financial fell 1.81 percent to 108,300 won and Shinhan Financial decreased by 2.55 percent to 65,000 won.
In an unusual move, Monami, a South Korean stationery company, surged to the daily permissible limit of 2,575 won, up 29.92 percent. This spike followed President Trump's compliment on President Lee's pen during their summit, despite uncertainty over whether the pen was manufactured by Monami.
The local currency was quoted at 1,396.8 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., representing a decrease of 11.1 won from the previous session.