Seoul shares drifted lower on Friday, reacting mutely to an overnight Wall Street rally backed by strong US economic data, as investors were seen cashing in recent gains. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.5 percent to close at 2,034.45 points, but had a weekly gain of 0.8 percent. For the year, the KOSPI is up 11.4 percent.
"Global signals were positive but the market found it difficult to convert them into momentum, with shares already sitting just below a seven-month high, and fund redemptions picked up near the 2,050 threshold to weigh on the market" said Kang Hyun-ki, an analyst at Solomon Investment & Securities. Institutional selling weighed on the market, with a net 149.7 billion won ($132.7 million) worth of shares being dumped on Friday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was lifted by strong US jobs and manufacturing data to close at a near four-year high, but Asian stocks took a breather as they consolidated gains from the recent broad rally. In Seoul, declines were led by shipbuilders. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering slid 3.5 percent while Samsung Heavy Industries tumbled nearly 4 percent.
Hyundai Wia Corp shares plunged 5.05 percent after its major stakeholders, Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp, sold about 340 billion won of shares in the auto-parts maker via a block deal, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The KOSPI index has posted gains nine out of the last 11 weeks, with risk appetites being underpinned by a strong run of positive US economic data. The large-cap, benchmark KOSPI 200 index was down 0.55 percent on Friday while the junior, tech-heavy KOSDAQ edged up 0.27 percent.
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