Seoul shares closed flat on Friday after a rangebound session, ending lower for the month but still logging the best quarterly performance in 2-1/2 years. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched 0.02 percent lower to close at 2,014.04, finishing with a 10.3 percent gain for the January-March period, its biggest quarterly advance since the third quarter of 2009 although posting a monthly fall of 0.8 percent.
Trade was subdued on Friday, with investors taking to the sidelines ahead of a string of key events scheduled over the weekend, including a summit of European Union finance heads and the release of China's PMI data for March. "There wasn't much window-dressing as many had expected, with rumours swirling around Spain and caution ahead of the EU finance ministers' meeting further constraining the market, which is already starved of momentum," said Oh On-su, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Oil and petrochemical counters were the biggest winners, as GS Holdings Corp, parent of South Korea's second-largest refiner, climbed 3.34 percent, while Hanhwa Chemical Corp rose 3.07 percent Investors locked in profit on some recent outperforming blue chips. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd edged 0.39 percent lower, posting a three-day skid on the heels of an all-time intraday high set on Tuesday.
Trading was light on Friday, with 445.2 million shares exchanging hands on the main bourse, while winning shares outnumbered decliners 509 to 317. The benchmark KOSPI 200 index fell 0.21 percent while the junior, KOSDAQ gained 1.04 percent.