Seoul shares trade lower on institutional selling

SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded lower late Wednesday morning
as institutional selling overshadowed revived hopes that U.S. lawmakers will
salvage a rejected bailout plan, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 11.36 points, or
0.78 percent, to 1,436.7 as of 11:20 a.m.
"The losses of the Seoul bourse were smaller in the previous session than those
of other countries as investors already had hopes for the revival of the rescue
plan. That's why the local key stock index traded lower even as U.S. markets
jumped," said Park Suk-hyun, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities Co.
U.S. stocks soared Tuesday on hopes that lawmakers will likely salvage a US$700
billion proposal to rescue the teetering financial system, which was unexpectedly
rejected on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.68 percent and the
tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index jumped 4.97 percent.
The U.S. Senate agreed to a vote on Wednesday night (local time) on the bailout
plan, raising hopes for its passage. Park said in the short term the possible
passage would ease worries over a global credit crunch, but it may be difficult
for the Seoul bourse to remain on a full-fledged upward trend.
Tech bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.86 percent on worries over its
third-quarter earnings and top oil refiner SK Energy lost 1.24 percent.
Reversing earlier gains, No. 2 carmaker Kia Motors shed 0.34 percent despite
reports that unionized workers at the automaker approved a revised wage deal,
ending sporadic partial strikes.
The local currency was trading at 1,192.85 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., up 14.15 won from Tuesday's close. The won tumbled to a 64-month low versus
the greenback on Tuesday on the bailout rejection.