Seoul shares trimmed early losses to end slightly lower on Wednesday, hovering near a 9-month intraday high hit in the previous session, helped by expectations for healthy earnings in carmakers and technology firms. The market fell more than 1 percent earlier as doubts over the global economy's recovery, renewed by talk of another US government stimulus package, weakened appetite for stocks and turned foreign investors net sellers for the first time in 10 sessions.
But the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) pared most losses by the close, outperforming other markets in Asia, as the government and international organisations endorsed the positive view on the local economy's recovery. "Investors in the developed markets should be clearly worried," said Hwang Chang-joong, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities. "But the outlook for South Korea is being upgraded and the outperformance is justified."
Trading volume remained modest at around 430 million shares. The KOSPI fell 0.22 percent to finish at 1,431.02 points, not far from Tuesday's high of 1,439.57. Expectations remain high that the country's key technology and automaking industries would post strong earnings in the second quarter, analysts said. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics reversed early losses to end 0.77 percent and 1.54 percent higher, respectively.
Top domestic carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 2.76 percent, also bolstered by the launching of its first hybrid car model. Its affiliate Kia Motors climbed 3.96 percent. Large telecom stocks also gained, with SK Telecom rising 1.68 percent and KT Corp up 0.95 percent. However, the prospect of prolonged global economic weakness hit shipbuilders and transportation stocks, already suffering from a fall in shipping demand.
The world's top shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 3.1 percent and Hanjin Heavy Industries dropped 7.54 percent. Container operator Hanjin Shipping shed 2.66 percent and Korea Line slid 5.85 percent. The world's biggest air cargo carrier Korean Air fell 1.92 percent.
On the smaller Kosdaq market, Internet security companies jumped on news of simultaneous hacking attacks against some Korean websites. Ahnlab Inc advanced by the market's 15 percent daily limit against the Kosdaq's 0.6 percent fall. On the main board, foreign investors sold a net 197 billion won ($154.4 million) worth of shares, ending their buying spree in the past nine sessions.
Local institutions sold a net 23 billion won and retail investors bought a net 215 billion won. Decliners led advancers 527 to 277, with 66 ending flat. Trading volume stood at 427 million shares worth 4.96 trillion won, compared with 451 million shares worth 5.0 trillion won on Tuesday. The KOSPI 200 September futures index ended unchanged at 185.00, while the KOSPI 200 spot index lost 0.38 point to 184.73.
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