SEOUL, April 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean shares ended in negative territory for the second straight session Friday as investors took cautious stance ahead of the announcement of first- quarter earnings result and the employment report in the United States.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5. 61 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 1,988.09. Trading volume stood at 212.66 million shares worth 3.22 trillion won (3.06 billion U.S. dollars).
Investors took money off the table as major companies, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, will unveil their first-quarter earnings within this month.
They also sought to confirm the announcement of the U.S. non- farm payroll report for March set to be released Friday, which will show whether labor market of the world's largest economy stays in its recovery track.
Weekly job report in the U.S. drew a dim picture. The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless claims rose 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000 last week, larger than analysts' expectations.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinted at unconventional measures including further quantitative easing after deciding to keep its interest rate unchanged at the record low level, but it failed to move higher the KOSPI as investors guessed that those monetary stimulus will not come any time soon.
Institutional investors kept selling shares as individual customers continued to ask for the retrieval of stock-type funds amid spreading views that the KOSPI was overvalued after touching the psychologically important level of 2,000 recently.
Local institutions sold stocks worth 46.2 billion won, and retail investors offloaded a net 70.9 billion won worth of shares.
Foreigners maintained a buying trend for the eight consecutive session by purchasing local shares worth 105.8 billion won. Market watchers said foreign capital will flow into emerging economies with solid fundamentals as the economies would benefit from the global recovery.
Large-cap shares ended mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics declined 0.7 percent, and the state-run power provider Korea Electric Power Corp. fell some 2 percent. The country's biggest web search engine NAVER ended in negative terrain, but the nation's biggest automaker Hyundai Motor closed bullish.
Memory chip giant SK Hynix gained 1.9 percent, and the nation's No. 1 auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis added 0.3 percent.
The South Korean currency finished at 1,053.5 won against the greenback, up 4.4 won from Thursday's close.
Bond prices ended steady. The yield on the liquid three-year treasury notes closed unchanged at 2.88 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds finished flat at 3.56 percent.
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