Kospi drops, won trades lower as Trump waffles on tariff plans

Kospi declined due to the Donald Trump administration's continuously shifting tariff plans.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on March 7. [YONHAP]

Shares ended lower Friday as the Donald Trump administration's continuously shifted its tariff plans. The won traded lower against the dollar.

The Kospi lost 12.68 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 2,563.48.

Trade volume was moderate at 558.4 million shares worth 11.8 trillion won ($8.2 billion), with losers outpacing winners 541 to 348.

Individual investors sold a combined 186.7 billion won worth of local shares, while foreigners and institutions purchased 49.8 billion won and 30 billion won, respectively.

Experts said the Kospi lost ground as it echoed losses on Wall Street, which can be attributed to uncertainties tied to the Trump administration's tariff policies.

Overnight, major U.S. indexes sank as investor sentiment soured after the Trump administration went back and forth on its plan to impose tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.

The S&P 500 dipped 1.78 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.99 percent while the Nasdaq slid 2.61 percent.

After imposing 25 percent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods Tuesday, Washington announced a decision the next day to offer a one-month exemption of duties on vehicles coming into the country through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

On Thursday, the U.S. administration also delayed tariffs on a broader range of Mexican and Canadian goods covered under the USMCA to early next month.

Investors also waited for the release of U.S. jobs data, which will give clues on the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 1.1 percent to 53,700 won while chipmaking rival SK hynix closed flat at 192,400 won.

Two bio giants, Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, slipped 2.65 percent and 2.18 percent to 1.1 million won and 184,000 won respectively.

Naver dipped 2.74 percent to 213,000 won, and mobile messenger operator Kakao slid nearly 3 percent to 43,750 won.

Meritz Financial Group shot down 6.45 percent to 119,000 won.

Meanwhile, defense firm Hanwha Aerospace soared 7.82 percent to 731,000 won. Steel giant Posco Holdings also shot up 7.28 percent to 317,000 won on expectations of Korea's participation in the Alaska gas pipeline project.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution increased 1.5 percent to 339,000 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,446.8 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 4.4 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended mixed. Three-year government bond yields fell 2.9 basis points to 2.565 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds rose 0.1 basis points to 4.278 percent.

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