Shares drop for third straight session as recession fears continue

Shares dropped for a third consecutive session Thursday amid concerns of an economic recession in the United States. Retail investors continued buying, while offshore investors sold net shares.

A screen at the Korea Exchange in western Seoul shows the Kospi closing on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Shares dropped for a third consecutive session Thursday amid concerns of an economic recession in the United States. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi lost 5.30 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 2,575.50.

Trading volume was moderate, at 371 million shares worth 10 trillion won ($7.48 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 519 to 358.

Retail investors purchased a net 457.6 billion won worth of local shares, extending their buying streak to a fourth session, while offshore investors remained net sellers for a third consecutive session, selling a net 590.4 billion won. Institutions scooped up 123.8 billion won.

The index had opened sharply higher as investors sought to pick up blue chip bargains, one day after it dropped 3.15 percent on a worse-than-expected U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index. Kospi dipped 0.61 percent on Tuesday.

Investors again took to the sidelines ahead of the release of U.S. jobs data.

“It is too early to conclude whether the U.S. economy faces a recession, but fears will likely persist until U.S. job data is released Friday,” KB Securities researcher Kim Ji-won said.

Large caps closed mixed, with Samsung Electronics shedding 1.43 percent to 69,000 won while SK hynix surged 2.97 percent to 159,400 won.

Hyundai Motor lost 1.51 percent to 229,000 won while Kia advanced 0.50 percent to 100,700 won.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution soared 2.63 percent to 410,000 won, while Samsung SDS gained 0.57 percent to 158,300 won.

Video game publisher Krafton gained 4.35 percent to 324,000 won and NCsoft also gained 3.55 percent to 183,700 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,335.90 won against the dollar, down 6.3 won from the previous session. The Kosdaq lost 6.47 points, or 0.88 percent, to close at 725.28.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds lost 3.0 basis points to 2.901 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bond fell 7.7 basis points to 3.755 percent.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]