FILE: Korea Exchange building in Busan, South Korea, March 2012. Photo: hyolee2 / Wikimedia Commons, ‘Korea exchange.JPG’, CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped/resized, adapted photo under same license.
South Korea’s Kosdaq dropped more than 1% and the Kospi reversed early gains in Thursday morning trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 held a slim advance, as Wall Street’s semiconductor rally failed to lift Korea’s benchmarks.
As of 10:10 a.m. Thursday in Seoul and Tokyo, the Kosdaq fell 9.47 points, or 1.34%, to 695.63, and the Kospi slipped 17.51 points, or 0.33%, to 5,357.85, according to the Korea Exchange. The Nikkei 225 rose 113.56 points, or 0.19%, to 61,362.15, per the Nikkei Stock Average.
The weakness came despite a strong Wednesday on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq Composite closed at 25,466.19, up 400.31 points, or 1.60%, and the PHLX Semiconductor Index jumped 565.78 points, or 5.66%, to 10,564.11, according to Nasdaq data.
For investors holding Korea- and Japan-focused funds or semiconductor stocks, Thursday’s session shows Korea’s smaller-cap shares taking the hardest early hit even after Wall Street’s chip-sector surge.
The Nikkei opened at 61,475.11, rose to 61,680.19 in the first minutes and dipped as low as 61,060.90 before recovering, the Nikkei Stock Average site shows.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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