South Korean shares fall for third day on US tech selloff

Published on 08/20/2025 at 02:58 am EDT

• KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
• Korean won weakens against dollar
• South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

(Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares fell for a third straight session on Wednesday, as overnight losses in U.S. technology stocks weighed.
** The benchmark KOSPI lost 21.47 points, or 0.68%, to 3,130.09, the lowest closing level since August 1. It fell as much as 2.29% during the session.
** Overnight declines in Nvidia and other major artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks dragged the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 0.6% and 1.5% lower, respectively.
** "Profit taking in Wall Street has been weighing on domestic market sentiment as well," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
** "The KOSPI recouped some losses near the close of the session on dip-buying, but volatility is expected to persist for the time being," said Park Kwang-nam, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.71%, after media reports said the U.S. was considering taking equity stakes in chip companies in exchange for grants under the CHIPS Act that was meant to spur factory-building in the country.
** Peer SK Hynix fell 2.85%, tracking major customer Nvidia's overnight decline.
** LG Chem rose 2.16% after major South Korean petrochemical companies, including itself, agreed to restructure their operations, including large production cuts.
** Lotte Chemical cut early gains to gain 0.65%, while Hanwha Solutions fell 2.61%.
** Of the total 935 traded issues, 243 advanced and 645 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 232.6 billion won ($166.3 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,398.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.46% lower than Tuesday's close of 1,392.0.
** In the money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.01 point to 107.29.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose 0.1 basis point to 2.446%, while the benchmark 10-year yield added 1.7 basis points to 2.861%. ($1 = 1,399.0600 won)
 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sumana Nandy) 

Sumber : MT Newswires