South Korean stocks closed 1.19 percent lower Monday as investors moved to the sidelines on jitters over slowing growth in major economies such as China and the United States, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 22.07 points to 1,836.13. Trading volume was light at 277.6 million shares worth 3.3 trillion won ($2.9 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 517 to 295.
"Concerns over growth in China and the U.S. weighed down on investor sentiment amid a lack of upward momentum," said Han Chi-hwan, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co.
On Friday, U.S. government data showed that non-farm payroll data gained by 80,000 in June, missing market expectations.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, meanwhile, said the world's No. 2 economy faces "relatively large" downward pressure. China is set to release its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data on Friday.
"While a weak Q2 GDP could spur stimulus hope, it still isn't good news for investors," said Han.
Major blue chips lost ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 3.01 percent to 1,126,000 won even though it locally unveiled the latest version of its Galaxy series phone that operates on the fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE) network.
Top builder Hyundai Construction & Engineering sank 6.46 percent to 62,300 won amid concerns over the ailing construction sector.
Affiliates of SK, the country's No. 3 conglomerate, closed mixed after the Fair Trade Commission slapped 34.6 billion won of fines on seven affiliates for unfairly aiding SK C&C. The seven affiliates include top refiner SK Innovation and top mobile carrier SK Telecom.
SK C&C closed down 3.74 percent at 103,000 won and SK Innovation lost 3.4 percent to 142,000 won.
In contrast, SK Telecom jumped 3.54 percent to 131,500 won despite the regulatory measure.
The local currency ended at 1,141.1 won to the greenback, down 3.3 won from Friday's close, as weak U.S. jobs data stoked fears over a global recession, dealers said. (Yonhap News)