Seoul shares slipped on Thursday as investors took defensive positions ahead of a crucial summit of European Union leaders, with losses in bank and technology issues and institutional selling weighing on the benchmark index. "Investors are moving cautiously before important events scheduled in Europe next week. The market is cautiously optimistic, but uncertainty overshadows the market," said Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Investors fretted over whether European leaders would agree on a plan to tackle the eurozone's debt crisis at what has been described as a make-or-break summit on Friday, while eyes are also on an expected European Central Bank (ECB) rate cut on Thursday.
Institutions were sellers of a net 42.7 billion Korean won ($37.92 million) worth of stocks, snapping 10 consecutive sessions of buying, and retail investors offloaded a net 31.8 billion won. The Bank of Korea held its key rate steady at 3.25 percent for the sixth successive month on Thursday amid signs that exports in one of Asia's most trade dependent economies are slowing and as domestic demand cools.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended down 0.37 percent at 1,912.39 points. The KOSPI 200 index fell 0.5 percent, while the junior Kosdaq index gained 0.6 percent.
Samsung Electronics shares ended up 0.8 percent after hitting a historical high of 1,083,000 won. LG Display tumbled 5.1 percent on renewed market rumours of a new share issue, which the flat-screen maker denied.
Declines in bank shares added further pressure as KB Financial Group fell 1.2 percent and Shinhan Financial Group shed 2.6 percent. While telecom shares, viewed as defensive stocks, gained ground, shares in KT Corp, South Korea's second-biggest mobile carrier, bucked the trend, declining 2.6 percent on the delay of its faster Long-Term Evolution (LTE) services.