Seoul shares down

Seoul shares backed away from near-six-month highs to fall 0.5 percent on Wednesday, as construction firms such as Hyundai Engineering were hit by worries the Bank of Korea could spring a surprise rate increase on Thursday.
But broader losses were prevented as exporters such as Hynix Semiconductor Inc continued to recover from recent sharp falls, with some seeing the shares as oversold. Some analysts, however, interpreted the change in the lower house of the US Congress as potentially softening the US policy towards North Korea, which would be positive for Seoul stocks should it help reduce tensions on the peninsula. "Concerning North Korea, there could be more negotiations compared to the Bush Congress," said Kim Yung-min, a fund manager at SH Asset Management.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.53 percent to end at 1,380.07, after earlier hitting a session high of 1,393.51 points, its highest intraday reading since May 17.
Foreign investors pared recent heavy sales, but still ended net sellers for a ninth consecutive session, unloading 49.5 billion won ($52.94 million) worth of shares, according to Korea Exchange data at 0615 GMT. Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co Ltd fell 3.59 percent to 20,150 won. Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co Ltd dropped 4.34 percent to 50,700 won.
Kookmin Bank fell 0.27 percent to 74,600 won amid confusion about when, or even if, it would end up buying Korea Exchange Bank from US buyout fund Lone Star. Hynix Semiconductor Inc gained 1.47 percent to 34,500 won after a US administrative judge on Tuesday rejected claims by Japan's Toshiba Corp that the South Korean chip maker infringed patents on flash memory chips.
Trade volume reached 193.8 million shares worth 2.6 trillion won compared to 213.1 million shares worth 3 trillion won on Tuesday. Decliners trumped gainers by 487 to 253 with 88 titles ending flat. Retail investors bought a net 34.3 billion won, but institutional investors sold a net 33.3 billion won. The December KOSPI 200 futures index fell 1.15 points to 180.00, while the underlying KOSPI 200 spot index lost 0.84 point to 178.61. South Korea's junior and tech heavy Kosdaq market fell 0.68 percent to finish at 596.61.