Seoul stocks edged down slightly on Monday as Samsung shares slumped after a US court ruled against Samsung Electronics in a smartphone patent lawsuit by Apple. The slump offset news that rating agency Moody's upgraded South Korea's credit rating to match those of China and Japan.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 0.1 percent to close at 1,917.87 points, after entering positive territory twice during trading. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics weighed, closing down 7.45 at end of trade as investors shed shares after Apple scored a sweeping legal victory in a US patent lawsuit last Friday. The day's movement wiped some $12 billion from Samsung Electronics' market capitalisation in a single session, for its lowest closing since October 2008.
Other group companies that owned Samsung Elec shares or were included in Samsung's smartphone manufacturing value chain were also hit, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co down 6.4 percent. However, the main board avoided a larger drop as Moody's upgraded South Korea's government bond to A1 from Aa3 on Monday, citing strong fiscal fundamentals, economic resilience and reduced external vulnerability of the banking sector. "There was steady buying from foreign investors despite Samsung Group shares weighing in the wake of Samsung's legal loss," said Kwak Joong-bo, an analyst at Samsung Securities. Foreign investors net bought 350.8 billion won ($309 million) in shares while institutional and retail investors net sold 116.6 and 199.5 billion won respectively.
Some large tech shares outside Samsung Group saw gains, with LG Display climbing 4.26 percent while LG Electronics rose 2.83 percent. Hanwha Corp saw a modest 0.8 percent gain after it signed a contract to acquire insolvent German solar group Q-Cells. The KOSPI 200 index of core stocks edged down 0.38 percent while the junior, tech-heavy KOSDAQ slid 0.74 percent lower.