South Korean stocks ended 0.71 percent lower Monday as woes over weak global economy growth weighed down on investor sentiment, analysts said. The South Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell
13.71 points to 1,927.21. Trading volume was moderate at 304.1 million shares worth 3.95 trillion won (US$3.7 billion), with decliners beating gainers 698 to 142. 

Analysts said the decline came as the world economy is currently facing stunted growth. 

"With the burdened markets overseas, foreigners are mostly selling off shares in the local stock market," said Lim Noh-jung, an analyst from I'M Investment & Securities Co.

Earlier last week, the International Monetary Fund said it has cut its growth outlook for the 2014 world economy by 0.1 percentage point to 3.3 percent, citing setbacks in advanced economies in the first half of the year, as well as less optimistic outlooks for some of the emerging markets, 

"There's not much momentum to pull up the figures in the market right now, and considering the current situation, it will take some time before we have any improvements," Lim added. 

Foreigners sold a net 317.49 billion won, and retail investors offloaded a net 77.07 billion won. Institutions bought more shares than they sold at 375.93 billion won. 

No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix fell 1.18 percent to 41,700 won amid the rising woes over the global semiconductor industry. LG Electronics dropped 2.08 percent to 65,900 won, and LG Display also shed 5.33 percent to end at 32,000 won.

Samsung Electronics, which managed to edge up 0.27 percent to close at 1,108,000 won, fell to a 52-week-low of 1,078,000 won at one point during the morning session. 

Builders also lost ground, with Daewoo Engineering & Construction losing 3.96 percent to 7,030 won and GS Engineering and Construction backtracking 3.44 percent to 30,900 won. 

Carmakers closed mixed, with No. 1 Hyundai Motor moving up 0.28 percent to 178,500 won while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors slipped 0.18 percent to 56,400 won. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis advanced 1.81 percent to 253,000 won.

SK Telecom, the country's top mobile carrier, added 0.18 percent to 277,000 won, while No. 3 LG Uplus slid 2.92 percent to 11,650 won. KT stepped down 1.85 percent to 34,450 won.

Biopharmaceutical company GeneOne Life Science, which has been collaborating with U.S.-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. in developing a DNA-based Ebola vaccine, saw its shares shoot up 14.79 percent to 1,940 won. The hemorrhagic fever has been regarded as an epidemic after spreading in parts of West Africa, and even in the United States and Spain. 

Also, shares of condom manufacturer Unidus nearly jumped to the daily limit of 14.96 percent to 2,920 won, after the recent announcement by the World Health Organization that the deadly virus was detected in the semen of those who were infected. 

The local currency ended at 1,067.9 won against the U.S. dollar, up 2.6 won from Friday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended mixed. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 0.3 basis point to 2.257 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds went up 1.8 basis point to 2.472 percent. (Yonhap)