Seoul shares pare gains late Monday morning on foreign selling

South Korean stock markets saw a slight dip on Monday morning as foreign investors continued to sell shares in large-cap technology companies, despite some bargain hunting by retail and institutional investors. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), which had opened higher by 0.76 percent, closed at 6,283.92 points, marking a 0.4 percent increase, by 11:20 a.m. Local time.

Foreign investors sold approximately 619.7 billion won ($437.8 million), counteracting a combined 598.2 billion won worth of purchases made by retail and institutional investors. The KOSPI experienced its second consecutive day of decline on Friday, largely due to foreign selling. Wall Street, on the other hand, showed gains following positive U.S. job reports, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.28 percent and the S&P 500 adding 0.62 percent to set a new record high.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index also saw an increase of 1.3 percent. Within the tech sector, Samsung Electronics experienced a slight decline of 0.11 percent, while SK hynix, its semiconductor rival, rose by 0.84 percent. The South Korean won was trading at approximately 1,414.8 won per U.S. dollar at that time.