Kospi 3-day rise snapped by profit-taking, won makes sharp drop

Shares fell Thursday, snapping a three-session winning streak and retreating from record highs as investors locked in profits. The local currency fell sharply against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Kospi dropped 162.08 points, or 1.84 percent, to close at 8,639.41.

Trade volume was moderate at 431.77 million shares worth 46.2 trillion won ($30.2 billion), with winners slightly outnumbering losers 446 to 444.

Institutions and individuals bought a net 1.81 trillion won and 5.01 trillion won, respectively. Foreigners alone sold a net 6.95 trillion won, extended their selling streak to a 19th consecutive session.

On Tuesday, the Kospi closed above the 8,800-point mark for the first time, driven by gains in technology stocks. The local stock market was closed Wednesday for the elections.

The index opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns that an escalation in hostilities between the United States and Iran could dim prospects for a peace agreement.

"The Kospi came under pressure from profit-taking as concerns grew that the recent rally had become overheated," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daeshin Securities.

In Seoul, large-cap shares closed lower.

Samsung Electronics went down 2.5 percent to 351,500 won and SK hynix went down 2.63 percent to 2.3 million won.

Hyundai Motor shed 3.98 percent to 700,000 won and Samsung Electro-Mechanics lost 5.35 percent to 1.7 million won.

Samsung Life Insurance went down 8.75 percent to 438,000 won following the previous session's sharp gain.

The won weakened by 13.3 won, trading at 1,529.7 won per dollar at 3:30 p.m. from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys gained 8.5 basis points to 3.858 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds went up 10.9 basis points to 4.078 percent.

Yonhap