US-listed shares of foreign companies fell on Friday, led lower by Asian companies due to continuing concerns about rising tension on the Korean peninsula. Weaker-than-expected data on the US labour market also dented investors' appetite for risky assets. Almost all US-listed shares of Korean companies were lower, including Korea Electronic Power Corp, off 3.1 percent at $13.43; Posco, off 4 percent at $68.35; and Shinhan Financial Group, down 2.8 percent at $33.75.
KB Financial fell 3.1 percent to $31.40 and LG Display Co dropped 2 percent to $13.36. New York-listed shares of KT Corp fell 1.7 percent to $15.46 and Woori Finance lost 4.6 percent to $30.88. SK Telecom was down 1 percent at $18.03. In South Korea, shares slid, with foreign investors selling their biggest daily amount in nearly 20 months, amid worries about North Korea and aggressive easing by the Bank of Japan that sent the yen reeling.
North Korea has asked embassies to consider moving staff out and warned it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats after April 10, Britain said, amid high tension and a war of words on the peninsula. The requests come on the heels of declarations by the government of the communist state that conflict is inevitable because of what it terms hostile US troop exercises with South Korea and UN sanctions imposed over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 1.64 percent at 1,927.23, its lowest closing level since November 28. For the week, the KOSPI fell 3.9 percent, its worst performance in more than 10 months. The BNY Mellon index of leading American depository receipts fell 0.7 percent, while the BNY Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs lost 0.9 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.9 percent, while the BNY Mellon index of leading Latin American ADRs was flat.