South Korean shares fall, dragged down by chip stocks on US tariff plans
South Korean shares declined on Monday, dragged down by local chip stocks following reports US President Donald Trump will unveil tariffs on semiconductor imports in the coming weeks. The won strengthened and the benchmark bond yield rose.
The blue-chip KOSPI lost 39.60 points, or 1.23%, to 3,186.06 as of 03:40 GMT.
Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 1.61% and peer SK Hynix shed 2.44%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 2.16%.
Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia gave up 0.46% and 1.16%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings fell 0.49% and drugmaker Samsung BioLogics slipped 0.48%.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said he would announce tariffs on imports of steel and semiconductor chips in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, South Korean shipper HMM rose more than 7% after announcing a share buyback plan of up to 2.1 trillion won ($1.5 billion).
Of the total 934 traded issues, 177 advanced and 723 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 290.8 billion won.
The won was quoted at 1,383.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.45% higher than Friday's close of 1,389.5.
In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,383.4 per dollar, up 0.4%, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,380.6.
The KOSPI has risen 32.78% so far this year.
The won has strengthened 6.4% against the dollar year-to-date.
In the money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds eased 0.09 point to 107.39.
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