Samsung Electronics hits 52-week low

Shares closed lower Tuesday as Samsung and other market heavyweights came under heavy selling following overnight losses on Wall Street.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,570.70 points on Tuesday, down 1.31 percent, or 34.22 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares closed lower Tuesday as Samsung and other market heavyweights came under heavy selling following overnight losses on Wall Street. The won continued to slip against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi fell 34.22 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 2,570.70. The Kosdaq also dropped by 21.61 points, or 2.84 percent, to end at 738.34.

Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 602 billion won ($436 million) worth of stocks, exceeding individuals' stock purchases valued at 582 billion won.

Trade volume was moderate at 337.43 million shares worth 8.75 trillion won, with losers outpacing gainers 688 to 195.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 percent to 42,931.60, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to 18,540.01.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Samsung Electronics fell 2.2 percent to a 52-week low of 57,700 won, Hyundai Motor declined 1.1 percent to 234,500 won, LG Energy Solution dropped 2.1 percent to 381,500 won and Korean Air slid 0.2 percent to 23,550 won.

Among gainers, state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation rose 2.6 percent to 21,800 won, wireless service provider SK Telecom climbed 2.1 percent to 57,500 won and auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis climbed 1.4 percent to 247,500 won.

YG Plus, a YG Entertainment affiliate that handles music distribution for YG Entertainment and HYBE artists, shot up 29.89 percent to 4,520 won. YG Entertainment also rose 6.16 percent to 40,500 won.

Kakao dropped 5.20 percent to 37,350 won, and Naver fell 3.17 percent to 171,200 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,380.10 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 4.9 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds increased 4.3 basis points to 2.945 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds rose 12.4 basis points to 4.202 percent.

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