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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Stocks & Bonds

Seoul shares finish lower on renewed trade war worries

  • PUBLISHED :May 08, 2018 - 16:06
  • UPDATED :May 08, 2018 - 16:06
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[THE INVESTOR] Korean shares lost ground on May 8 as rising worries over a renewed US-China trade row dampened investors sentiment here, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the US dollar.

The benchmark KOSPI shed 11.57 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 2,449.81. Trade volume was high at 703 million shares worth 9.49 trillion won (US$8.82 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 618 to 226.

  Steelmakers and builders, which were among the most favored shares in the optimistic inter-Korean relations, led the decline as investors were discouraged by lingering talks on the site and the time of the US-North Korea summit.

Top steelmaker POSCO fell 2.31 percent to 359,000 won, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction tumbled 4.25 percent to 63,100 won.

Leading chemicals manufacturer LG Chem slumped 3.08 percent to 330,500 won, and Kumho Petrochemical declined 2.76 percent to 105,500 won amid rising worries over the future of the US-Iran nuclear agreement.

Cosmetics firms also ended on a bearish note, with industry leader Amorepacific sliding 0.71 percent to 347,500 won and LG Household & Health Care dropping 0.84 percent to 1,293,000 won.

But tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.35 percent to 52,600 won on the second trading day of its stock split, and Samsung Biologics, the bio unit of Samsung Group, moved up 3.06 percent to 370,500 won despite its snowballing accounting fraud scandal.

The local currency closed at 1,076.50 won against the US dollar, up 0.70 won from the previous session’s close. 

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

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