Seoul shares narrow losses late Monday morning on institutional buying

Seoul shares narrowed their losses late Monday morning helped by institutional buying after a technology-led sell-off on Wall Street raised speculation over heavy spending in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

After opening a sharp 3.17 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 14.8 points, or 0.26 percent, from the previous session to 5,653.25 as of 11:20 a.m.

On Friday (U.S. time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.14 percent.

Institutions bought a net 377.27 billion won ($284 million) worth of stocks, while foreigners and individuals sold a net 84.13 billion won and 555.03 billion won, respectively.

Investors also remain cautious ahead of earnings reports from major companies, including Tesla and Meta Platforms, due this week, as well as the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections, amid continued uncertainty over the interest rate outlook, analysts said.

In Seoul, tech stocks led the decline.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.23 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix declined 3.14 percent.

SK Telecom, the leading wireless services provider, dropped 0.38 percent, and HD Hyundai Electric shed 1.94 percent.

Among gainers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 3.85 percent, and national flag carrier Korean Air climbed 2.66 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,329.80 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 6.7 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.