April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean stocks closed lower on April 24 as foreign buyers went on a heavy selling spree amid worries over US interest rate hikes, analysts here said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark KOSPI surrendered 9.97 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 2,464.14. Trading volume was moderately heavy at 519.4 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won (US$7.60 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 453 to 359.

Foreigners offloaded a net 438.8 billion won worth of shares on the main exchange, while individual and institutional investors scooped up a net 271.1 billion won and 168.4 billion won, respectively.

  Tech shares ended bearish, with top cap Samsung Electronics losing 2.77 percent to end at 2,523,000 won. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, was down 2.73 percent at 82,100 won after announcing earlier in the day that it posted the second-highest quarterly earnings for the first quarter.

Auto shares, meanwhile, ended in positive terrain, with leading automaker Hyundai Motor adding 1.88 percent to 162,500 won. Its sister company, Kia Motors, was up 0.16 percent to 31,400 won, and Hyundai Mobis, the country’s top auto parts manufacturer, moved up 0.62 percent to 245,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,076.80 won against the US dollar, down 7.80 won from the previous trading session.    

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)