Seoul Stocks Fall as Tech and Battery Shares Lead Decline.

Seoul: South Korean stocks experienced a decline of nearly 1 percent, ending a three-day winning streak as foreign investors sold off tech and battery shares. The local currency showed strength against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) decreased by 24.01 points, or 0.92 percent, closing at 2,593.79, marking its first daily drop in four trading sessions. According to Yonhap News Agency, the trade volume was moderate, with 476.4 million shares valued at 8.76 trillion won (approximately US$6.3 billion) changing hands. Decliners outnumbered gainers 514 to 350. Foreign investors were the main sellers, offloading a net 335.3 billion won worth of stocks, which outweighed the net purchase of 311.7 billion won by both institutions and individual investors. The decline in the market was led by technology and battery sectors. Samsung Electronics, a market leader, saw a decrease of 0.84 percent to 59,100 won, while Hyundai Motor, the top carmaker, fell by 1.56 percent to 220,500 w on. EV battery stocks suffered due to disappointing quarterly earnings, with POSCO Future M dropping 4.19 percent to 228,500 won and Samsung SDI falling 1.45 percent to 339,000 won. Steel company POSCO Holdings experienced a decline of 1.88 percent to 340,000 won, and major shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean sank 3.16 percent to 27,550 won. Korea Zinc plummeted by the daily limit of 30 percent to 1.08 million won following its announcement to raise 2.5 trillion won through new share issuance to address its management battle. On a positive note, SK hynix, the second-largest memory chipmaker globally, rose 2.47 percent to 195,000 won, and leading battery producer LG Energy Solution increased 0.61 percent to 411,500 won. Retail giant Shinsegae gained 1.54 percent to 151,400 won, following news of Shinsegae Group's decision to separate its department store and supermarket divisions into independent entities. The Korean won was trading at 1,382.4 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., marking an increase of 4.1 won fr om the previous session.