Share price indexes are displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The Kospi fell nearly 2 percent, barely holding above the 6,800 level, closing down 137.49 points, or 1.98 percent, at 6,803.90. [Yonhap]
Share price indexes are displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The Kospi fell nearly 2 percent, barely holding above the 6,800 level, closing down 137.49 points, or 1.98 percent, at 6,803.90. [Yonhap]

The Kospi fell nearly 2 percent Wednesday as foreign and institutional investors sold in tandem. Rising crude oil prices and US Treasury yields added to the pressure, alongside caution ahead of Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter earnings release.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed at 6,803.90, down 137.49 points, or 1.98 percent, from the previous session. The index opened lower, shedding 77.14 points, or 1.11 percent, to 6,864.25. Samsung Electronics briefly climbed more than 2 percent during the session, pulling the index toward a recovery, but the gains reversed.

On the main Kospi market, foreign investors and institutions net sold 2.61 trillion won ($1.94 billion) and 674.5 billion won, respectively, dragging the index lower. Individual investors stood as the sole net buyers, picking up 2.57 trillion won.

Buying by other corporations — a group that has emerged as a key source of demand on the back of share buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — also slowed. Net purchases by that category came to 709 billion won on the day, well below the prior daily average of around 1.6 trillion won.

The Kospi opened in negative territory after memory chip stocks, including Micron Technology and SK hynix's American depositary receipts, weakened on US markets overnight.

A renewed rise in crude oil prices and US Treasury yields added to the headwinds. International oil prices, which had been trending lower recently, rebounded as military clashes around the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait intensified. As of 3:45 p.m., West Texas Intermediate futures topped $90 a barrel while Brent crude surpassed $101. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note also rebounded, climbing above 5.3 percent.

Wariness ahead of Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter earnings release, scheduled for Thursday, also weighed on sentiment. "LG Electronics' third-quarter operating profit came in 24.8 percent below expectations," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. "That heightened caution about earnings ahead of Samsung Electronics' preliminary results."

Samsung Electronics ended the session down 1.29 percent at 268,500 won, while SK hynix fell 2.82 percent to 1.723 million won.

Among other large-cap stocks, Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 4.24 percent, SK Square dropped 1.64 percent and Hyundai Motor declined 3.45 percent.

The Kosdaq shed 21.49 points, or 2.34 percent, to close at 898.43, slipping below the 900 level. On the Kosdaq market, individual investors net bought 503.8 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors net sold 265.1 billion won and 216.4 billion won, respectively.

Among Kosdaq large caps, Alteogen fell 1.15 percent, Ecopro dropped 3.67 percent and Ecopro BM declined 3.41 percent. PSK Holdings gained 3.55 percent, TSE rose 0.80 percent and PharmaResearch added 0.82 percent.


moon@heraldcorp.com