Seoul shares erased earlier gains and ended lower on Monday, pressured by foreign selling on global risk aversion and sharp falls in technology stocks including Hynix Semiconductor. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed down 0.31 percent or 6.45 points to 2,093.79 points.
"Technology issues' fall really dragged down the market today. Foreign investor selling has renewed as broader caution about the global macroeconomic backdrop deepens," said Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities. Foreign investors were sellers of a net 86.5 billion won ($80 million) worth of stocks, snapping a two-session buying streak that was preceded by a 10-session selling binge.
Technology issues suffered as investors opted out of the sector amid growing views its second quarter earnings may disappoint. "Prices of panels and chips have not picked up as strongly as the market had hoped, and this points to a rather lacklustre earnings recovery in the second quarter," said James Song, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.
Shares in Samsung Electronics, the world's No 1 memory chip maker, fell 0.8 percent and LG Display lost 3.1 percent. Hynix Semiconductor, the world's No 2 memory chip maker, dropped 5.8 percent. Samsung SDI tumbled 11.5 percent on concerns over a hefty investment burden from its new solar battery operation, which Samsung Electronics will hand over to Samsung SDI.
Elsewhere shares in POSCO fell 1.2 percent after the world's third-biggest steelmaker said it would lower prices of its major stainless steel products by 300,000 won ($275.36) a tonne for June, reflecting a recent fall in nickel prices. But shipyards rose after the Baltic Dry index , which tracks the cost of shipping key commodities, rose 0.5 percent.
Shares in Hyundai Heavy Industries , the world's biggest shipyard, gained 1.3 percent and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering advanced 2.1 percent. Chemical shares also outperformed, with LG Chem rising 1 percent and Honam Petrochemical up 4 percent. KOSPI 200 June futures fell 1.2 points to 276.30 points and the KOSPI 200 spot index shed 1.03 points to 276.32. The junior Kosdaq market ended down 0.56 percent at 480.52.