SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday, with Korea and Japan pulling back after their record-setting rally in the previous session.
Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 0.8 percent to close at 4,010.41, pressured by heavy foreign selling. Overseas investors offloaded 1.64 trillion won ($1.14 billion) worth of shares, while retail investors bought 1.57 trillion won and domestic institutions added 311.4 billion won, signaling broad profit-taking after a near uninterrupted two-week surge.
The pullback centered on biggest winners Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which fell 2.45 percent to 99,500 won and 2.62 percent to 521,000 won, respectively.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries plunged 4.81 percent to 594,000 won after investors dismissed the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump visiting a Korean shipyard during his APEC-week trip.
Some stocks, however, bucked the decline.
Doosan Enerbility jumped 5.49 percent to 86,400 won after announcing a supply contract with U.S. firm Fermi America for nuclear reactor components, reinforcing expectations that it will benefit from Washington’s “Make American Nuclear Cooperation Great Again (MANUGA)” initiative.
Samsung Heavy Industries extended Monday’s rally, rising 2.92 percent to 29,950 won on strong momentum behind its self-developed LNG tank technology and recent floating LNG project wins.
Samsung Biologics gained 2 percent to 1,232,000 won after reporting a 115.3 percent on-year jump in operating profit to 728.8 billion won. Investors also took positions ahead of its trading suspension starting Thursday due to a planned spin-off.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.58 percent to 50,219.18 as investors locked in profits following Monday’s record close. Defense-related stocks, which had rallied sharply in recent weeks, reversed course — Kawasaki Heavy Industries tumbled 5.03 percent to 11,995 yen ($78.83).
By contrast, Furukawa Electric surged 6.34 percent to 10,460 yen on reports that the United States and Japan had agreed on a new rare-earth cooperation framework.
Elsewhere in the region, losses were more modest.
China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.22 percent to 3,988.22, while Taiwan’s TAIEX eased 0.16 percent to 27,949.11.
As of 4:30 p.m., Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down around 0.5 percent, trading near 29,260.
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