SEOUL: Seoul shares slipped from a 6-1/2 month closing high on Thursday, tracking global markets, in what analysts said was a correction mode as investors eye moves to ensure the rest of the eurozone is insulated from the Greek debt crisis.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 1.15 percent to 2,005.34 points as of 0226 GMT.
"The bad news is all expectations over Greece's rescue, quantitative easing and economic recovery were already factored in," said Choi Kwang-hyeok, a market analyst at Hanwha Securities.
Weak European economic data also sapped investors' tolerance for risk. The February reading on the flash euro zone services Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) of 49.7 was below forecasts and under the 50 level that signifies contraction.
A fund manager in Seoul who declined to be named said there was still ample room for liquidity to boost the market further on prospects of an overall economic recovery, though the market was trending sideways.
Foreign investors were sellers of a net 95.9 billion won ($85.17 million) worth of stocks, poised to end a four-session buying streak.
Institutions continued selling for a seventh straight session, offloading 82.9 billion won worth of stocks.
Samsung Electronics reversed the bulk of recent gains that brought it to another record high. The world's No.1 memory chip maker and the largest stock on the KOSPI lost 3.4 percent.
LG Electronics, the world's No. 2 TV manufacturer, shed 4.1 percent.
Brokerage shares were down 2.2 percent, among the top decliners, led by Woori Investment & Securities
Shares in Samsung Securities fell 2 percent and Daewoo Securities was down 2.8 percent.
OCI, a producer of polysilicon, a key material to make solar panels, tumbled 6.6 percent after Reuters reported earlier that the German government agreed to speed up the next round of cuts in state-mandated photovoltaic incentives.
"Adding to pressure from news Germany is deepening cuts in solar subsidies, concerns that the volume of photovoltaic installations will decline in the second quarter hit the shares," said Baek Young-chan, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Woongjin Energy, which makes solar ingots and wafers, also plunged 5.4 percent.
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