Seoul shares fall over 1.3 pct on institutional, foreign selling

Seoul shares fell over 1.3 percent late Monday morning, as institutions and foreign investors unloaded chip, battery and other blue chips across the board. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had tumbled 38.70 points, or 1.38 percent, to 2,756.76 as of 11:20 a.m. Most blue chips underwent weak trading, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics and smaller chip rival SK hynix falling 1.78 percent and 1.91 percent, respectively. Leading battery firm LG Energy Solution dropped 4.34 percent following news that it has recently suspended construction of its joint U.S. plant with General Motors amid stagnation in growth of the electric vehicle market. Smaller rival Samsung SDI also tumbled 3.64 percent. Energy-related stocks also went south. Leading refiner SK Innovation fell 2.59 percent, and LG Chem declined 3.3 percent. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor also slipped 2.13 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,388.85 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 2.15 won from the previous se ssion's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency