South Korean Stocks Lose 2019 Gains as Trade War Continues
- Benchmark falls 1.3% Wednesday to 2,023.32, a five-month low
- Samsung Electronics drops 8.8% in May, biggest decline in 2019
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South Korea’s $1.3 trillion stock market became the latest victim of the U.S.-China trade war, with its benchmark index losing all of this year’s advance on Wednesday.
The Kospi index fell 1.3% to 2,023.32 at the close in Seoul, its lowest since Jan. 4. Foreign investors sold a net 360 billion won ($301 million) of Kospi shares as of 3:52 p.m. Seoul time. The Korean market became the second in Asia to forfeit gains made in 2019, after losing gains in intraday trading several times in the past week. Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index, down 1.5% for the year, gave up its year-to-date climb on May 14.