South Korean shares fell to their lowest close since September 6 on Friday in spite of record quarterly profit from heavyweight Samsung Electronics, thanks mainly to concerns that the won's strength and slowing demand will hurt the country's exporters. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slid 1.72 percent, the steepest daily drop in seven weeks, to end at 1,891.43 points on a day all Asian markets fell.
"Shares of IT and auto parts exporters are sliding as worries about the won-yen exchange rate surface," said Lee Sun-yeob, an analyst at Shinhan Securities. The South Korean won has strengthened while the yen has been weakening, prompting worries about the price competitiveness of Korean exports. The share prices of bluechip exporters suffered on Friday, some despite good earnings.
Samsung Electronics posted a quarterly profit of $7.4 billion, but investors accustomed to record profits from the tech giant sent its shares down 2.7 percent. LG Display, which after the market close reported its first quarterly profit in two years, fell 1.2 percent. Shares in Kia Motors tumbled by more than 5 percent after the carmaker posted a smaller-than-expected profit margin for the third quarter. The autos and IT sectors led the market's losses, declining 2.9 percent and 2.2 percent respectively. The KOSPI 200 benchmark of core stocks closed down 1.8 percent, while the junior KOSDAQ edged 2.5 percent lower.