SEOUL: South Korean shares fell to more than 1-week lows on Thursday on concerns about weak earnings from key sectors and as home-builders fell in reaction to government measures aimed at containing household debt growth.
The won fell sharply to a fresh 2-year low against the dollar after the central bank estimated South Korea’s economic growth during the past quarter to have slowed more than had previously been thought.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 0.1 percent at 2,062.17 points as of 0335 GMT after hitting a session low of 2,053.52, its lowest intraday level seen since July 14.”
Expectations for strong earnings growth are waning and this combined with the household debt measures to hurt the overall trading sentiment today,” said Lee Jae-man, a market strategist at Hana Daetoo Investment & Securities.The construction sector’s index fell 4.0 percent to 147.31 points on expectations that the government’s household debt measures, announced on Wednesday, would at least slow the housing market’s recovery. Chin Hung International fell 11.3 percent to 3,490 won, Kolon Global Corp lost 5.3 percent to 22,400 won and Hyundai Engineering & Construction dropped 5.4 percent to 38,100 won.
