Seoul stocks down late Tuesday morning amid virus woes

SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks extended losses late Tuesday morning as investors turned risk-averse, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street over the resurgence of the new coronavirus and its delta variant.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 22.02 points, or 0.68 percent, to 3,238.4 points as of 11:20 a.m.

Stocks retreated amid concerns that the highly contagious delta variant may hamper the global economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3 percent, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.09 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.16 percent.

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to above 1,500 on Tuesday, as the nationwide resurgence of COVID-19 cases continued during the summer vacation season.

Bio stocks advanced in Seoul, while tech and financial caps slumped.

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics shed 1.23 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 3.02 percent.

Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics jumped 5.39 percent, with Celltrion climbing 0.94 percent.

Financial top cap Kakao Bank tumbled 9.94 percent on profit-taking on its third day of trading, and game developer Krafton lost 0.33 percent on its stock market debut.

Internet portal giant Naver slipped 0.11 percent, and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor moved down 0.9 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,148.65 won to the U.S. dollar, down 4.35 won from the previous session's close.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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