South Korean shares retreated on Wednesday with foreigners selling heavily for the fifth consecutive day, while the index widened its losses in the final minutes of trade amid reports of server outages at major broadcasters and a bank. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1 percent to close at 1,959.41 points, a one-month low.
Refiner SK Innovation fell 2.2 percent, extending the month's loss to over 10 percent on concerns over the month's revenues. Shares in Hyundai Engineering & Construction rose 2 percent. The builder said on Tuesday that it had won a $820 million order to build a power station in Talimarjan, Uzbekistan, along with Daewoo International. Daewoo's shares were up a modest 0.6 percent. 510 shares declined while 287 advanced in a thin session. The KOSPI 200 benchmark of core stocks was down 0.3 percent, while the junior KOSDAQ edged 0.2 percent lower.