SEOUL, Apr 8: Seoul shares dipped to new four-month lows on Monday as increasingly strident rhetoric by North Korea and a slumping yen sent foreigners packing for a fourth day.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ticked 0.3 percent lower at 1,921.85 points as of 0217GMT.
‘Foreign selling is continuing amid the tensions with North Korean and concerns about the falling yen,’ said Park Seok-hyun, an analyst at KTB Securities.
‘However, Samsung Electronics’ better-than-expected earnings outlook is buttressing the index.’
Foreign investors were once again selling, extending Friday’s 20-month record sell-off after aggressive expansion by the Bank of Japan sent the yen reeling, as well as by tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Meanwhile, North Korea may be readying for another missile launch or a fourth nuclear test, according to media reports.
Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics was up 1 percent, after ending little changed on Friday despite a better-than-expected profit guidance for the January-March period.
Kim Young-chan at Shinhan Investment & Securities said that Samsung’s share price was still undervalued, considering that the second-quarter will be boosted by the launch of the new Galaxy SIV smartphone.
Rival LG Electronics also rose 1.3 percent after a local brokerage maintained its buy rating, citing growing demand for its smartphones.
On the downside, utility Korea Electric Power Corp shed 3.1 percent, extending Friday’s 2.4 percent fall.
Among daily movers, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding jumped 5.9 percent on hopes that debt-structuring agreement with its creditors was within reach.
Declining shares outnumbered winners 480 to 279.
The KOSPI 200 benchmark of core stocks was down 0.1 percent, while the junior KOSDAQ edged 1.4 percent lower. (agencies)
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