A dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul, Friday / Yonhap
Korean stocks closed lower Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak despite briefly touching a fresh high during midday trading as investors braced for a five-day closure of the market for the Lunar New Year holiday. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 15.26 points, or 0.28 percent, to end at 5,507.01, after reaching a record high of over 5,580 during intraday trading.
Trade volume was heavy at 1.28 billion shares worth 30.3 trillion won ($21 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 545 to 336.
Foreigners sold a net 974.1 billion won worth of local shares, offsetting 708.4 billion won and 82.4 billion won net purchases by retail investors and institutions, respectively.
Overnight, major U.S. indexes lost ground on concerns related to the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on various industries, such as software.
"Investors moved to take profit following a bullish run this week ahead of next week's extended market holiday in Korea," Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, noting that the KOSPI's momentum is unlikely to be easily undermined.
Korea's stock markets will be closed through Wednesday for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Despite the KOSPI's fall, tech giant Samsung Electronics increased 1.46 percent to reach its highest-ever figure of 181,200 won, with preferred stocks of the company soaring 4.5 percent to 127,600 won.
Power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility rose 1.26 percent to 96,700 won.
Source: Korea Times News
