Seoul shares down for 3rd day on foreign sell-off

South Korean stocks closed lower Friday as foreign investors unloaded big-cap tech and battery shares. The local currency fell against the US dollar.

After opening slightly higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 15.48 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 2,593.82.

Trade volume was slim at 259.1 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won (US$5.9 billion), with losers far outpacing winners 589 to 267.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.37 percent to close at 43,239.05, marking a new high for a second consecutive session on reports of better-than-anticipated consumer spending.

The US Department of Commerce reported that the value of retail sales increased 0.4 percent from a month earlier in September, rising from 0.1 percent on-month growth the previous month and beating market expectations of a 0.3 percent increase.

But the Kospi dropped as foreigners continued to sell off local shares, in particular, semiconductors, without any other momentum to boost the market, analysts said.

Foreigners dumped 479.7 billion won of local shares to offset a combined 455.9 billion won worth of purchases by retail investors and institutions.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.84 percent to 59,200 won, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix plunged 4.44 percent to 187,300 won.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment producer, shot down 10.4 percent to 104,200 won.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution tumbled 2.14 percent to 388,500 won, while its smaller rival Samsung SDI was down 1.2 percent to 330,000 won.

Auto shares also lost ground, with Hyundai Motor down 0.42 percent to 234,500 won and Kia down 0.11 percent to 95,100 won.

But bio giant Samsung Biologics soared 3.31 percent to 1.06 million won, and financial shares gained ground.

KB Financial was up 0.75 percent to 94,400 won, and Meritz Financial was up 2.22 percent to 106,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver also rose 1.03 percent to 176,800 won, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, jumped 3.08 percent to 38,500 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,369.7 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 1.1 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)