Seoul shares end lower on Wall Street fall, program selling

South Korean stocks closed lower Monday as losses in U.S. stocks last weekend undermined investor sentiment and program selling weighed on the market. The South Korean won lost against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 7.98 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,263.35. Volume was light at 153 million shares worth 2.13 trillion won (US$2.23 billion) with losers leading gainers 417 to 307.

The blue-chip KRX 100 index lost 15.79 points, or 0.60 percent, to 2,628.56, and the tech-laced KOSDAQ index shed 2.95 points, or 0.53 percent, to 548.68.

The local currency ended at 951.70 won to the greenback, down 1.70 won from Friday's close, as domestic investors bought the dollar. "The leading cause of the market's drop was last weekend's fall in U.S. stocks. Program selling also pushed the main index lower," said Kang Moon-sung, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co.

However, the market reduced earlier losses in afternoon trading on decreased program selling and a rebound in Asian markets from earlier declines, said Park Seok-hyun, an analyst at Kyobo Securities Co. U.S. stocks ended lower Friday after personal computer maker Dell Inc. issued a profit warning. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.55 percent and the NASDAQ Composite Index dropped 0.93 percent.

Driven by losses on the NASDAQ, tech titan Samsung Electronics lost 1.50 percent to 588,000 won and chip giant Hynix Semiconductor dropped 1.40 percent to 31,650 won.

The state-owned power monopoly Korea Electric Power Corp. fell 4.20 percent to 34,200 won on an assessment that it rose too much last week.

Top refiner SK Corp. rose 0.62 percent to 64,600 won as Daeshin Securities Co. forecast the company will see improved second-quarter earnings, citing a rise in refining margins.

Brokerage shares staged a moderate rally ahead of the government's scheduled announcement on Tuesday of measures to deregulate the securities sector, with Hyundai Securities up 3.67 percent to 10,150 won. Lotte Shopping, the second largest retailer, slipped 5.45 percent to 320,500 won on pessimism about the economic outlook for the July-December period.

However, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard rose 2.30 percent to 88,700 won on hopes of a recovery in its business activities in the second half of the year.

On the currency market, the won fell versus the greenback as offshore investors snapped up the dollar in morning trading, dealers said. The won further dropped against the greenback in afternoon trading as domestic investors bought the dollar, they added.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, fell slightly. The return on the benchmark three-year Treasuries rose 0.01 percentage point to 4.87 percent, with the yield on the five-year government bonds adding 0.01 percentage point to 4.97 percent.

Seoul, July 24 (Yonhap News)