South Korean stocks finished 0.79 percent lower Tuesday due to steep falls among telecom companies and brokerages and short-lived rumors on North Korea that triggered a brief plunge, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 14.68 points to 1,842.02. Trading volume was heavy at 520 million shares worth 4.18 trillion won ($3.61 billion) with losers leading gainers 573 to 257.

The KOSPI tumbled 2.33 percent at 10:40 a.m. The brief plunge could have been caused by an erroneous trading order, but rumors regarding North Korea could also have played a role, analysts said.

“There were rumors in the market that China may be dispatching troops to North Korea at a time when investor sentiment is already fragile,” said Lee Jae-man, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities Inc.

There were no clear market movers, said Kwak Joong-bo, an market analyst at Samsung Securities Co. “But trading volume increased following the brief plunge,” he said.

Retail investors cut a net 209.3 billion won worth of Seoul stocks, reducing large-cap tech companies and financial companies.

Institutional and foreign investors, however, were net buyers.

Telecom companies finished in negative territory. The smallest mobile carrier LG Uplus sank 3.87 percent to 7,450 won after an upper court cleared the No. 2 mobile carrier KT to begin a next-generation mobile service. KT fell 1.7 percent to 37,650 won.

SK Telecom, the leading mobile operator, fell 1.95 percent to 151,000 won after a fair trade watchdog approved its takeover of Hynix Semiconductor, which declined 2.42 percent to 72,500 won.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, however, added 0.66 percent to 1,073,000 won, after announcing a set of measures to streamline its businesses, including an acquisition of Samsung LED.

The local currency closed at 1,158.8 won to the greenback, down 3.8 won from Monday’s close, as investors shunned risky assets amid lingering uncertainties, dealers said. 

(Yonhap News)