Seoul stocks end down 0.84 pct on U.S. bank restrictions

(ATTN: ADDS details in penultimate para, bond yields at bottom)
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks closed 0.84 percent lower Monday
as a U.S. plan to tighten bank regulations caused local bank shares to plunge,
analysts said. The local currency inched up against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 14.15 points to
end at 1,670.2. Volume was heavy at 579.3 million shares worth 5.7 trillion won
(US$5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 599 to 234.
"The market started in a grim mood due to a U.S. bank issue, and firms that
export nuclear power plants also added to the tumble after they are reported to
have lost the bid for a Dutch research reactor," said Sim Jae-yup, an analyst at
Meritz Securities.
The KOSPI extended its loss for the second consecutive day after U.S. President
Barack Obama unveiled a proposal Thursday to Congress to limit banks' risky
trading.
Banking shares led the overall market plunge, with Woori Finance Holdings, which
controls second-biggest lender Woori Bank, tumbling 4.61 percent to 14,500 won.
Top financial service firm KB Financial Group, the parent for Kookmin Bank, also
slid 2.59 percent to settle at 52,700 won.
Korea Electric Power (KEPCO), the state-run utility agency, plummeted 6.17
percent to 38,750 won after a KEPCO-led consortium was reported to have failed to
clinch the Netherlands' order to build a research reactor.
Amsterdam scrapped its bidding process for the 80 megawatt PALLAS reactor for an
unspecified reason.
Samsung C&T, another key nuclear plant exporter, also fell 4.67 percent to 61,200
won.
Korean Air, South Kore's top air carrier, rose 3.07 percent to 60,400 won after
the airline reported 122.3 billion won in fourth-quarter net income Friday,
turning back its loss of 644 billion won a year earlier.
Samsung Electronics also advanced 2.06 percent to 842,000 won ahead of its
planned earnings report on Friday. The world's largest memory-chip maker is
expected to post stronger-than-expected results for the October-December period,
thanks to rising prices in key memory chips and flat panels.
The local currency closed at 1,150.00 won to the U.S. dollar, up 1 won from
Friday's close, as exporters snapped up the won after selling the greenback,
dealers said.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on the
benchmark three-year Treasury note climbed 0.02 percentage point to 4.26 percent,
and the return on five-year government bonds also gained 0.02 percentage point to
4.82 percent.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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