Seoul shares end lower ahead of key U.S. data

Shares ended slightly lower Monday as investors stayed cautious ahead of U.S. inflation data this week and the looming U.S. deadline for imposing higher tariffs on goods imported from China. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi fell 3.24 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 3,206.77.

Trade volume was light at 302.01 million shares worth 10.23 trillion won ($7.3 billion). Decliners outnumbered gainers 578 to 298.

The Kospi bucked Wall Street gains on Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite advanced 0.98 percent.

Institutions and individuals sold a net 214.27 billion won and 142.42 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, while foreigners bought a net 216.86 billion won of stocks.

“The Kospi remained largely unchanged as traders kept a close watch on key inflation data for clues on the future path of the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy,” Kim Byung-yeon, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said.

Traders were also watching whether the Tuesday deadline for talks on U.S. duties on Chinese imports would be extended, Kim said. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs, citing China's purchase of Russian oil.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.11 percent to 71,000 won, but its chipmaking rival SK hynix surged 4.09 percent to 267,000 won.

Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries dropped 0.54 percent to 464,000 won, and Hanwha Ocean, the shipbuilding unit of Hanwha Group, tumbled 9.09 percent to 107,000 won.

State-run utility Korea Electric Power Corporation fell 1.89 percent to 39,000 won, and leading steelmaker Posco Holdings jumped 3.72 percent to 306,500 won.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 2.77 percent to 389,000 won, and No. 2 battery firm Samsung SDI advanced 3.21 percent to 225,000 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,388.00 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 0.12 percent from the previous session's quote of 1,389.60 won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 1.1 basis points to 2.420 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds also climbed 1.1 basis points to 2.565 percent.

Yonhap