Seoul: Seoul shares extended losses on foreign selling late Friday morning, as investors digested China's economic growth results for 2024. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.03 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,521.46 as of 11:20 a.m. The index had opened lower, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.16 percent to 43,153.13 points on Thursday (U.S. time), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 0.89 points to 19,338.29 points. Institutions and foreigners net sold a combined 438.6 billion won (US$301 million) worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock purchases valued at 416.4 billion won.
China's economy grew 5.4 percent in the October-December period from a year earlier, while reporting annual growth of 5 percent last year on strong exports. Its retail sales rose 3.5 percent on-year in 2024.
In Seoul, auto and shipbuilding stocks led declines. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 2.51 percent, and Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, dropped 0.58 percent. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dropped 1.84 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix rose 1.9 percent.
Among other gainers, state utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. rose 1.98 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.57 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,454.45 won against the greenback at 11:20 a.m., up 2.25 won from the previous session.