Seoul shares fell on Tuesday led by banking and technology issues including Hynix, but Hyundai Department gained on the strong IPO pricing of Hyundai Homeshopping, in which it is the majority shareholder. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished down 0.99 percent at 1,742.75 points. Foreign investors were sellers of a net 36.8 billion won ($30.90 million) worth of stocks, and institutions offloaded a net 28.8 billion won.
Memory chip issues underperformed after a 2.5 percent loss in the US Philadelphia semiconductor index. Intel Corp warned late last week that third-quarter revenue could fall short of its own estimates by more than $1 billion, reinforcing doubts about the strength of a technology sector recovery. Shares in Samsung Electronics, the world's No 1 memory chip maker, fell 2.6 percent and Hynix Semiconductor, the world's No 2, dropped 6.2 percent. Shares in LG Display, the world's No 2 flat panel maker, declined 2.9 percent and LG Electronics, the world's third-biggest handset maker, declined 1.6 percent.
But Hyundai Department Store outperformed, ending flat, after Hyundai Homeshopping priced its 270 billion won ($225.9 million) initial public offering at the top of the indicative range. Airline issues rose on the back of expectations of strong inflows of Chinese tourists, analysts said.
Trading volume was 282.6 million shares worth 5 trillion won, compared with 242 million shares worth 3.9 trillion won in the previous session. The KOSPI 200 September futures index ended down 3.45 points at 226.55, and the KOSPI 200 spot index fell 2.82 points to 226.81.