South Korean shares fall on caution ahead of Samsung Electronics' earnings

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares fell on Wednesday, as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of Samsung Electronics’ earnings release to assess the outlook for AI demand.

The benchmark KOSPI was down 43.20 points, or 0.62%, at 6,898.19 as of 0138 GMT.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics was up 0.18%, after rising more than 2% earlier in the session, while peer SK Hynix lost 1.52%.

Samsung Electronics is expected to report on Thursday a nearly nine-fold jump in third-quarter operating profit, driven by robust AI demand, though analysts have cut forecasts by nearly 8% since the end of August.

“The upside for the domestic market will be capped by wait-and-see sentiment ahead of Samsung Electronics’ earnings and caution ahead of a holiday later this week,” said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. South Korean markets will be closed on Friday for a public holiday.

Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.38%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 2.16% and down 1.95%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 2.36%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 1.91%.

Of the total 911 traded issues, 415 shares advanced, while 438 declined. Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 865.3 billion won ($646.93 million).

The won was quoted at 1,338.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.04% higher than its previous close at 1,338.8.

In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.01 point to 102.62.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 1.4 basis points to 3.949%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.1 basis points to 4.384%.