Seoul shares ended down 1.9 percent on Tuesday as concerns about Europe returned to the forefront after major credit ratings agencies warned European leaders had not done enough to tackle the region's debt crisis. "European authorities' debt measures turned out to be a bit weak, and now the focus is shifting to economic factors," said Han Beom-ho, a market analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 1.88 percent or 35.7 points to 1,864.06 points. Samsung Card plummeted 5.9 percent after the credit card issuer said it had decided to sell a 17 percent stake worth 773.85 billion won ($675 million) in unlisted amusement park operator Samsung Everland to construction materials firm KCC Corp.
Samsung Card is selling the stake at 1.82 million won per share, lower than the 2.14 million won it estimated in a regulatory filing in September. KCC meanwhile rose 1.2 percent. Shares in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering fell 4 percent and Samsung Heavy Industries lost 4.7 percent. Hyundai Motor retreated 3.9 percent and Kia Motors ended down 2.8 percent. S-Oil lost 4.9 percent and SK Innovation shed 4.4 percent. Samsung Electronics fell 3.1 percent, weighed by Intel's warning that supply shortages would dent its fourth quarter revenues. Korean Air Line, the country's top air carrier, lost 2.7 percent and Modetour shed 2 percent.