South Korean stocks fell to the lowest point in two months on Friday, as fear that the U.S. Federal Reserve could start the stimulus cut sooner on upbeat growth data unnerved investors, analyst said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 19.17 points, or 0.96 percent to 1,984.87, the lowest since Sept. 9, marking the first time it closed below the psychologically significant level of 2,000 since Oct. 7.
Trading volume was light at 274.7 million shares worth 4.12 trillion won ($3.86 billion) with losers far outpacing gainers 569 to 245.
Investors' concerns came as the U.S. Ministry of Commerce said the previous day that the gross domestic product of the world's largest economy advanced 2.8 percent on-year in the third quarter, far beating the forecast of 2.0-percent expansion.
The growth data drove Wall Street to finish lower on Thursday on speculations that it will give new grounds to the Fed to scale back the bond purchases that have led the recent stock rallies around the globe.
Analysts here, however, dismissed such woes about an early tapering, saying that timing may not have come yet.
"The U.S. economy fared better than expected, but we still need to question whether they have recovered enough to sustain the growth, given the low consumption and stagnant investment," said Han Beom-ho, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp.
They also took the European Central Bank's rate cut as a positive signal, which will likely fuel consistent liquidity flow into the market.
Foreigners dumped a net 197.1 billion won, extending its selling binge for a fifth consecutive session, with institutions also unloading a net 12.8 billion won. Retailers, on the contrary, scooped up a net 205.8 billion won.
Most shares finished bearish, led by tech and IT service companies. Top-cap Samsung Electronics shed 1.88 percent to 1,410,000 won, with NAVER, Korea's No. 1 Internet portal operator, dipping 3.95 percent to 560,000 won.
But shares of major defensive stock Korea Electric Power Corp.
gained 0.34 percent to 29,200 won. Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipyard, also climbed 1.88 percent to 271,000 won.
The local currency ended at 1,064.90 won against the greenback, down 3.5 won from Thursday's close, as foreigners opted to unload their holdings in Seoul shares, dealers said. (Yonhap News)
