Seoul stocks finish 0.72 pct lower on tech tumbles

(ATTN: ADDS bond yields at bottom)
SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 0.72 percent lower on Friday as tech companies took a dive on grim second-quarter earnings forecasts, analysts said. The local currency gathered ground against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) skidded 14.7 points to 2,031.93. Trading volume was light at 277.9 million shares, worth 8.01 trillion won (US$7.4 billion), with losers outpacing winners 419 to 393.
Plunges in tech shares led the key index to reverse opening gains and end at the lowest point since 2,012.18 on March 23.
"Investors, mainly institutional buyers, got spooked by grim forecasts on tech firms' second-quarter earnings as the pre-earnings season nears," Rhyu Yong-suk, an analyst at Hyundai Securities, said.
The earnings outlook for their third and fourth quarters will likely remain gloomy as U.S. tech giant Apple's entrance into the cloud computing sector may reduce demand for locally made components, the analyst said.
Market leader Samsung Electronics sank 3.42 percent to 819,000 won, and Hynix, the No. 2 computer memory chip maker, nosedived 6.1 percent to end at 24,650 won. LCD maker LG Display tumbled 6.78 percent to 28,200 won.
Car makers also headed south as their Japanese car-making peers were reported to be gearing up to boost production, recovering from the massive March earthquake that crippled their supply chains.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.1 percent to 225,500 won, with Kia Motors, the No. 2 car maker, slumping 2.13 percent to settle at 69,000 won.
Hana Financial Group, the fourth-largest banking group, dived 4.85 percent to 35,300 won on expectations that the group's deal to buy a controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) may face a long delay due to legal issues over current top shareholder Lone Star Fund's 2003 takeover of KEB's credit card unit.
Woori Finance Holdings, the second-biggest banking group, sank 3.47 percent to 12,500 won as investors cast a pessimistic view on the success of the government's move to privatize a major stake in the state-run company.
The local currency ended at 1,085.9 won to the U.S. dollar, up 4 won from Thursday's close, curbing two straight days of losses, dealers said.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasuries rose 0.06 percentage point to 3.67 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds advanced 0.04 percentage point to 3.94 percent.
pbr@yna.co.kr