stocks-morning
Seoul shares sharply down late Tues. morning after record daily gain
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks dropped more than 2.6 percent late Tuesday morning as investors took profit following the previous session's sharpest-ever daily gains prompted by the country's reimposing of a ban on stock short selling.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had fallen 65.43 points, or 2.61 percent, to 2,436.94 as of 11:20 a.m.
On Monday, the KOSPI logged its largest daily gain of 134.03 points, climbing 5.66 percent, buoyed by the short selling ban that will be in place until the end of June 2024. Authorities cited concerns about growing market volatility from illegal short selling practices.
Most blue chips traded lower across the board, with chip behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.85 percent and No. 2 home appliance maker LG Electronics also down 1.8 percent.
Top steelmaker POSCO Holding, which surged over 19 percent in the previous session, tumbled 10.54 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution plunged 9.42 percent. Top refiner SK Innovation also slid 1.88 percent.
Leading automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia dropped 1.24 percent and 1.52 percent, respectively.
The local currency had been trading at 1307.15 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 9.85 won from the previous session's close.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
