The Korea Times🇰🇷
Seoul stocks sink over 2.5% on chip losses
Bonds
Korean shares fell by more than 2 percent Monday, ending their four-day winning streak, as investors locked in profits from large-cap tech shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 191.18 points, or 2.7 percent, to end at 6,889.74. After opening 0.33 percent lower, the index came under a heavy selling-spree by foreigners and institutions. The KOSPI extended its winning streak to a fourth session through Wednesday and was closed Thursday and Friday for the Chuseok holiday, Korea's equivalent of Thanksgiving. Investors are digesting a series of factors, such as rising bond yields and murky prospects for the Middle East crisis. On Friday (local time), U.S. stocks ended higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.93 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.51 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.48 percent. "Signs of easing emerged in U.S.-China relations and the U.S.-Iran relationship, but a sharp rise in U.S. Treasury yields limited risk appetite, offsetting the positive factors," Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said.
South Korea
