Seoul stocks end lower on foreign selling

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares ended lower Friday on foreign selling. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 0.96 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,475.41.

The main index bucked overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.39 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 0.73 percent.

Foreigners sold a net 227 billion won (US$208 million) worth of stocks. Institutions bought 61 billion won in shares and individuals bought stocks valued at 133 billion won, keeping the main KOSPI index from falling further.

Kwak Hyun-soo, an analyst at Shinhan Investment, said institutions bought large-cap stocks on bargain hunting.

Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 0.08 percent to 2,542,000 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. was up 0.78 percent to 77,400 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.82 percent to 161,500 won, and top steelmaker POSCO was down 1.94 percent to 328,500 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,086.40 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.80 won from the previous session's close.

entropy@yna.co.kr
(END)