Kospi snaps streak to slide nearly 1% with tech, battery stocks dumped

The Kospi lost 24.01 points, or 0.92 percent, to 2,593.79 as foreigners offloaded tech and battery stocks.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,593.79 points on Wednesday, down 0.92 percent, or 24.01 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares fell nearly 1 percent Wednesday to snap a three-session winning streak as foreign investors dumped tech and battery stocks. The local currency rose in value against the dollar.

The Kospi lost 24.01 points, or 0.92 percent, to 2,593.79, marking the first daily drop in four trading days. The Kosdaq fell 5.99 points, or 0.8 percent, to 738.19.

Trade volume was moderate at 476.4 million shares worth 8.76 trillion won ($6.3 billion), with decliners beating gainers 514 to 350.

Foreigners sold a net 335.3 billion won worth of stocks to lead the decline, offsetting the purchase of a net 311.7 billion won by institutions and individuals altogether.

Tech and battery stocks led the market decline.

Samsung Electronics lost 0.84 percent to 59,100 won and carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.56 percent to 220,500 won.

EV battery shares were weak on poor quarterly earnings reports. Posco Future M slid 4.19 percent to 228,500 won and Samsung SDI skidded 1.45 percent to 339,000 won.

Steel giant Posco Holdings dropped 1.88 percent to 340,000 won and shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean sank 3.16 percent to 27,550 won.

Korea Zinc fell by the daily limit of 30 percent to 1.08 million won after announcing plans to raise 2.5 trillion won by issuing new shares in a bid to win its ongoing management battle.

Financial shares also dropped. KB Financial fell 1.68 percent to 93,900 won, Shinhan Financial shed 3.88 percent to 54,500 won and Hana Financial lost 3.69 percent to 62,600 won.

But SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, rose 2.47 percent to 195,000 won and battery maker LG Energy Solution went up 0.61 percent to 411,500 won.

Samsung SDS rose 2.29 percent to 152,000 won.

The won was trading at 1,382.4 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 4.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 0.1 basis points to 2.937 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds fell 2.7 basis points to 4.255 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]