Seoul shares slipped on Thursday after recent substantial rebounds, and after the US Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for US economic growth this year and next without signalling further plans for stimulus. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended down 0.39 percent at 2,055.86 points.
KOSPI 200 September futures ended down 2.05 points at 270.30 points and the KOSPI 200 spot index fell 1.37 points to 269.34. The junior Kosdaq market ended up 0.18 percent at 464.22. Foreign investors were sellers of a net 133.2 billion Korean won ($124 million) worth of stocks, offloading shares for a second straight session.
Korea Express Co Ltd jumped 15 percent after Samsung SDS, a unit of South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, said on Thursday that it may partner with steelmaker POSCO to bid for an estimated $1.4 billion stake in Korea Express. "Samsung's logistics demand is huge. This should raise the corporate value of Korea Express. Samsung Group's participation could also raise the selling price of Korea Express," said KTB Securities analyst Shin Ji-yoon.
Crude oil refiners lost ground after a local media report said the South Korean government has asked domestic refiners to extend their three-month price cut for gasoline and diesel or to raise prices only slowly. Shares in S-Oil, the country's No 3 crude oil refiner, fell 3.2 percent and SK Innovation shed 2.8 percent. Automakers eased following their recent sharp gains.