stocks-morning

Seoul shares down nearly 3 pct late Mon. morning over Trump tariff woes

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks plummeted more than 2.8 percent late Monday morning on concerns over the United States' decision to impose high tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, potentially affecting South Korean businesses operating there.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 71.49 points, or 2.84 percent, to 2,445.88 as of 11:20 a.m.

On Saturday (U.S. time), U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on goods from China.

The move, set to begin Tuesday, is expected to adversely affect Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other major Korean companies that have production bases in those countries.

Blue chips were rattled across the board, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics down 2.48 percent and its chipmaking rival SK hynix plunging 4.42 percent.

LG Electronics, which has a production base in Mexico, tumbled 6.29 percent.

Automotive and steel shares also traded in negative territory.

Hyundai Motor slipped 1.94 percent and Kia, which operates a manufacturing plant in Mexico, plummeted 5.78 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO Holdings dove 4.03 percent.

Financial and bio shares also lost ground. KB Financial was down 3.27 percent, and Samsung Biologics slumped 2.04 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,470.30 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., sharply down 17.60 won from the previous session.

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