South Korean shares fall over 1% as Samsung Electronics drops

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares fell more than 1% on Monday, dragged down by heavy losses in Samsung Electronics on disappointment over its shareholder return policies.

The benchmark KOSPI was down 90.29 points, or 1.31%, at 6,822.66 as of 0126 GMT.

Samsung Electronics fell 6.31%, after the chipmaker said last week its shareholder returns this year could reach up to 110 trillion won ($79.55 billion), which analysts said was smaller than expected.

Peer SK Hynix gained 1.91%. Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 3.93%, while peer Samsung SDI surged 8.58% on an announcement of a share sale plan by Samsung Display.

Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 0.84% and down 0.31%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 5.65%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 0.26%.

Of the total 901 traded issues, 506 shares advanced, while 346 declined. Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 1.3 trillion won.

The won was quoted at 1,381.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.35% higher than its previous close at 1,386.0.

In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.05 point to 103.18.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.2 basis points to 3.851%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 6.4 basis points to 4.350%.‑Reuters