Seoul shares lower

South Korean shares recovered from early losses to end marginally lower on Monday, but trade was choppy with many investors on the sidelines to await cues from a US Federal Reserve policy meeting. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 0.1 percent at 1,972.63 after falling to 1,964.12 earlier in the session, a 2-1/2 month intraday low.
Early losses failed to stick, with positive momentum from an HSBC Flash Purchase Managers Index showing China's factory output ticking higher, although it was not sufficient to signal a return to expansionary territory. Turnover was the lowest in 3-1/2 months, with 3.52 trillion won ($3.09 billion) worth of shares traded on the main bourse, 78.2 percent of the daily average of 4.5 trillion won so far in April.
Foreign investors were sellers for a sixth consecutive session, offloading a net 117.5 billion won ($103.1 million) worth of shares, taking their total to 1.08 trillion won dumped during the six-day stretch. The large-cap benchmark KOSPI 200 index ticked 0.07 percent lower, while the junior KOSDAQ index fell 0.51 percent.