Seoul, Korea - KOSPI fell below the 1,960 level as foreigners and institutional investors increased their net-selling volume. At 10:42 am on March 3, the index was 1,958.77, down 21.22 points (1.07%) from the previous trading day.

 

The main reasons for the decline, according to stock analysts, were geopolitical factors including the test-firing of short-range missiles by North Korea and the Ukrainian crisis.

 

On the same day, the net-selling volume for foreigners and institutional investors was 67.9 billion won and 63.6 billion won, respectively. Individual investors net-bought 131.6 billion won.

 

All industrial sectors except non-metallic mineral (+0.61%) and precision medical (0.83%) showed downward trends for the day, including banking (-3.23%), telecom (-2.78%), transportation and warehousing (-2.26%). Large-cap stocks such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Mobis, SK Hynix, POSCO, Kia Motors, and Shinhan Financial Group declined while those for Naver and KEPCO were on the rise.