Seoul stocks sharply lower late Mon. morning on profit taking

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- The Korean Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) experienced a significant decline of 5.12 percent, closing at 6,257.45 points on Monday, as investors cashed in profits from semiconductor leaders following a record surge the previous day. The KOSPI had surged by nearly 18 percent on Friday. Trading volume was relatively low, with 270.9 million shares traded worth 26.1 trillion won (US$18.2 billion).

Winners slightly outpaced losers, with 454 securities ending the day higher compared to 417. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers, offloading a combined total of 4.77 trillion won, while retail investors added a net 4.65 trillion won.

The market faced pressure from foreign investors, particularly those involved in semiconductor stocks, who engaged in profit-taking. Notably, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, the country's two leading chip manufacturers, saw their shares rise nearly to the daily permissible limit on Friday, following expectations that leveraged exchange-traded funds were nearing completion of their unwinding process.

However, investor sentiment was tempered by the decline in oil prices, following President Donald Trump's announcement of canceling a potentially large-scale military strike on Iran. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, two major competitors in the industry, suffered significant losses, with SK hynix falling 8.79 percent to 1,567,000 won and Samsung Electronics dropping 8.76 percent to 239,500 won.

Oil refiners also experienced a decline due to the decrease in oil prices resulting from the easing of U.S.-Iran tensions, with S-Oil losing 4.4 percent to 121,700 won and GS, which owns the refiner GS Caltex, falling 4.94 percent to 84,600 won.

Despite these setbacks, some companies managed to gain ground. Hyundai Motor and defense firm Hanwha Aerospace saw modest increases, rising 1.29 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively. The Korean won experienced a weakening trend, trading at 1,429.8 won against the U.S. dollar, a decline of 5.8 won from the previous day's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, also trended higher, with the yield on three-year Treasurys falling 1.6 basis points to 3.742 percent, while the yield on five-year government bonds decreased by 0.1 basis point to 4.014 percent.