Seoul shares gave up earlier advances and ended down nearly 2 percent on Friday after two sessions of gains and ahead of the Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, holiday. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 1.83 percent at 1,812.93 points. Pre-holiday turnover was light, with 5.45 trillion won ($5.1 billion) worth of shares exchanging hands compared with August's daily average of 8.1 trillion won.
Gains in crude oil refiners gave the market support. S-Oil, the country's No 3 crude oil refiner, rose 0.9 percent and SK Innovation, the country's No 1. jumped 2.9 percent. Shares in global No 2 memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor jumped 3.1 percent amid expectations of production cuts by Taiwanese peers.
Shares in Hyundai Department Store rose 1.1 percent and Lotte Shopping edged down just 0.4 percent. KOSPI 200 December futures fell 1.27 percent to 233.60 points. The KOSPI 200 spot index lost 2.13 percent to 233.40 and the junior Kosdaq market finished down 0.92 percent at 470.94.