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Korea shares ends off 2 pct as top movers tumble

SEOUL: South Korea's benchmark index ended more than two percent lower on Wednesday as options-linked sales dragged down top index movers such as Samsung Electronics, analysts said.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 18.04 points or 2.11 percent at 837.01.

"As expected, foreign investors stepped up their net selling before liquidating April put option contracts," said Kim Jeong-whan, a strategist at LG Securities.

Selling focused on key blue chips, with Samsung Electronics off 2.68 percent at 345,500.

Steel maker Pohang Iron and Steel Co (POSCO) shed 4.55 percent to 105,000.

Telecom titles took another pounding from overnight weakness in the tech sector on the Nasdaq composite index, analysts said.

The country's biggest mobile phone service provider SK Telecom was off 7.65 percent at 3.5 million won.

Dacom, a fixed-line telephone and Internet service provider, was down 4.72 percent at 242,000. Resisting the slide was the financial sector, with select banking issues chalking up gains on the belief the sector has neared a floor, analysts said.

Kookmin Bank ended up 6.7 percent at 12,000.

Hana Bank was up 4.8 percent at 6,600.

Analysts said the main exchange could stage a rebound on Friday following a holiday on Thursday for general elections in response to losses this week.

They said the pending elections have caused uncertainty over the course of economic planning thereafter and that may begin to clear up then.

KOSDAQ TURNS AROUND

A newspaper report saying Korea Telecom Freetel and Hansol M.com were in talks, combined with a rise on the Nasdaq futures index, sent the Kosdaq market more than one percent higher, analysts said.

The Kosdaq over-the-counter market ended up 3.16 points or 1.54 percent at 208.67.

Analysts said the two companies represent about 20 percent of the Kosdaq's capitalisation and their rises spurred the market.

The mobile telephone unit of Korea Telecom ended up 4.0 percent at 84,100.

Hansol, which offers short-range mobile phone service known as personal communication service (PCS), was up 8.9 percent at 36,100.

"The rise in the Nasdaq futures index set the positive tone for the Kosdaq," said Lee Young-mok, a strategist at Daewoo Securities.

The June Nasdaq futures index was up 38.95 points at 3993,95. In the broader market, foreign investors sold a net 113.1 billion won worth of shares.

Domestic institutions bought a net 38.1 billion won worth of shares, while retail investors bought a net 30.8 billion won worth.

Trade volume totaled 213.5 million shares, compared with on Tuesday's 255.1 million shares. Trade was valued at 2.33 trillion won compared with 2.59 trillion won on Tuesday.

Decliners outpaced advancers 418 to 383 with 83 shares unchanged.

June Kospi futures index: ended down 1.25 points at 107.10, while the underlying Kospi spot index was down 2.65 points at 105.71.-Reuters