Seoul shares trim earlier gains on institutional selling

SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded higher late Tuesday morning, but cut earlier gains as institutional selling overshadowed overnight gains in U.S. markets, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 4.56 points, or
0.38 percent, to 1,212.19 as of 11:20 a.m.
"The Seoul bourse trimmed earlier gains in the morning session, led by
institutional selling," said Park Suk-hyun, an analyst at Eugene Investment &
Securities Co.
Although market players generally welcomed the recently-announced government
measures to stabilize the financial sector, investors still have some doubts
about its effectiveness, he added.
On Sunday, the government unveiled sweeping measures aimed at providing
three-year state guarantees for banks' foreign debts worth up to US$100 billion
and injecting $30 billion into dollar-starved banks and companies.
U.S. stocks jumped Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke backed the
government stimulus package. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 4.67 percent
and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index climbed 3.43 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,326.5 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 11.5 won from Monday's close. The Korean won rose 1.4 percent per the
greenback on Monday on the back of the government's rescue package.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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