SEOUL: Seoul shares were down by midday on Friday as investors shunned riskier wagers in the wake of weak second quarter results for large caps and lukewarm prospects for coming quarters.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 0.5 percent at 2,009.60 points as of 0248 GMT, falling for a third consecutive session. It fell as low as 2,004.70 points, its lowest in three weeks.”Investors’ sentiment was sapped after large IT companies
released lukewarm earnings without improving prospects,” said Kim Yoon-seo, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities.Lee Jae-hoon, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, noted investors have in the last three weeks taken money out of funds that specialize in emerging market shares, further weighing on the main board.Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co LTd lost as much as 2.5 percent to a eight-month low of 1,185,000 won.
It fell for a second day after it announced on Thursday a 4 percent fall in April-June profit and offered a downbeat outlookfor the coming quarters of 2015. Samsung SDI Co Ltd slid as much as 9 percent toa six-year low of 86,100 won after it announced worse-than-expected April-June results late on Thursday.Daum Kakao Corp slid 6 percent on concerns over
earnings for the second quarter after a similar business operator Naver Corp released weaker-than-expected April-June period profit.Naver Corp, South Korea’s largest web portal operator, was down 1 percent after a sharp fall of 13.9 percent on Thursday.
The South Korean won erased early losses and held steady against the dollar on profit-taking in the greenback and as investors avoided betting below a three-year low of 1,173 level.
The won was quoted at 1,168.9 per dollar, barely changed from the previous close of 1.168.4, after falling to as low as 1,173.0.September futures on three-year treasury bonds were down 0.02 point at 109.31.
