Seoul shares fell for a seventh consecutive session on Friday, led by tech issues, as a rate hike dampened investor sentiment amid lingering worries over the economic recovery. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 1.19 percent at 2,046.67 points. South Korea's central bank announced on Friday an unexpected rate increase for the third time this year, surprising financial markets.
"Since there's little left to anticipate, the rate hike affected the psychological environment," said Lee Jae-mahn, a market analyst at Tong Yang Securities. Foreign investors offloaded a net 60.7 billion Korean won ($56.2 million) worth of stocks, selling for a second straight session. Key large-cap technology shares led declines.
LG Electronics ,the world's No 3 handset maker, fell more than 5 percent on jitters over its upcoming quarterly earnings. The world's No 2 memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor Inc tumbled over 8 percent to five-month lows amid concerns of a substantive new share sale as its top shareholders plan to launch the auction of their $2.9 billion stake in the company on June 21.
But Shinsegae Co Ltd closed up the daily limit of 15 percent on the first day of its relisting due to its split into two entities, a department store operator and a discount chain. However, discount retail operator E-Mart Co Ltd shed 7.3 percent from its opening price. KOSPI 200 June futures fell 3.75 points to 269.95 points and the KOSPI 200 spot index shed 3.40 points to 269.04. The junior Kosdaq market ended down 1.39 percent at 466.91.
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