Seoul shares lost more ground on Wednesday as investors continue to fret about the prospect of an escalation in Middle East tensions amid higher crude oil prices. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished down 0.57 percent at 1,928.24 points and is now down a total of 5.99 percent this year. Foreign investors sold a net 73.8 billion won ($65.71 million) worth of stocks, unloading shares for a sixth consecutive session.
Institutions were buyers of a net 156.7 billion won. Construction issues drove stocks down as persistent worries over political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa prompted speculations that it may hurt their projects in the region. Shares in Hyundai Engineering & Construction fell 4.2 percent and Samsung Engineering slid 4.8 percent.
South Korea's construction companies won more than half of their total overseas orders from the Middle Eastern region as of 2010, according to the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK). Transport companies fell after Brent crude oil surged more than 3 percent to push above $116 a barrel in their US trade on Tuesday. Shares in Korean Air Line, South Korea's top air carrier, fell 0.8 percent and Asiana Airlines lost 4.7 percent.
Shares in bicycle makers Verygood Leisure and Samchuly jumped 10.3 percent and 4.6 percent respectively. Shares in OCI, a maker of polysilicon, a key material that turns sunlight into electricity, advanced 1.5 percent. Automakers rose after their solid growth in monthly sales. Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top automaker, posted a gain in its domestic sales for the first time in six months in February. Shares in Hyundai Motor rose 0.6 percent and Kia Motors advanced 2.4 percent.
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