Seoul shares suffered their biggest one-day percentage fall in over six months on Wednesday, as worries about US inflation and a disappointing revenue forecast from Intel sparked a foreign-led sell-off of exporters and techs.
Mobile operators also fell sharply on worries about earnings in the sector after SK Telecom Co said it would stop charging subscribers for its caller ID service.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 2.79 percent at 1,153.13, marking its biggest daily percentage fall since losing 2.87 percent on April 14.
It was the KOSPI's lowest close in nearly six weeks.
Foreigners sold some 278 billion won more than they bought on Wednesday, data at 0645 GMT showed, extending their selling streak to a 19th consecutive session.
Hyundai Motor Co, fell 3.01 percent to 74,200 won, while affiliate Kia Motors Corp lost 5.57 percent to 16,950 won.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's top maker of memory chips, fell 2.65 percent to 555,000 won, while smaller rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc fell 2.49 percent to 21,500 won.
LG Electronics Inc fell 2.26 percent to 69,100 won a day after it said on Tuesday its net profit in the latest quarter came in below expectations. Top local mobile operator SK Telecom fell 3.65 percent to 198,000 won.
Trade volume reached around 565 million shares worth 4 trillion won compared to 524.5 million shares worth 3.8 trillion won on Tuesday. Decliners outnumbered gainers by 672 to 107 with 38 titles ending flat.
Institutional investors bought a net 113.8 billion won, while retail investors bought a net 118.4 billion won. The December KOSPI 200 futures index fell 3.90 points to 148.80, while the underlying KOSPI 200 spot index lost 4.15 points to 148.11. South Korea's junior and tech heavy Kosdaq market fell 3.14 percent to finish at 573.19, its biggest one-day percentage fall in over seven weeks.
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