South Korean shares fall for third day on high volatility in chip stocks
- The benchmark KOSPI index closed down 69.68 points, or 1.23%, at 5,593.56
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares erased early gains to end lower on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight session to closeat the lowest innearly four months, as volatility remained high for chipmaker stocks.
The benchmark KOSPI index closed down 69.68 points, or 1.23%, at 5,593.56, its lowest close since April 7 in a sessionthat saw it climb as much as 5.5% and later reverse course to fall as much as 2.1% before paring losses slightly.
On Wednesday, it had fallen 6%, adding toTuesday’s 11% plunge.
“Volatility in chipmaker stocks has not been reduced yet, with leveraged ETFs still at high trading volumes,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
South Korea introduced additional curbs on single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including a cap that could limit an individual’s investment in such products to 20% of their total investment assets.
South Korea’s efforts to rein in the leveraged products wreaking havoc in its financial markets may not go far enough to quell skyrocketing volatility, analysts say. Samsung Electronics fell 0.72%, erasing early gains of as much as 8.39%.
The chipmaker said chip shortages would worsen and extend into 2028, after it posted a more than 250-fold jump in chip profit. Peer SK Hynix lost 5.64%.
Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 6.49%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 0.71% and up 0.33%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 4.16%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 2.10%. Of the total 916 traded issues, 608 shares advanced, while 279 declined.
Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 1.3 trillion won ($904.66 million).
The won was quoted at 1,437.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.63% higher than its previous close at 1,446.5.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.3 basis points to 3.837%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 6.4 basis points to 4.330%.‑Reuters
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