Seoul's KOSPI closed at 6,803.90, down 1.98 percent, its lowest finish since September 17. Foreign investors were net sellers of about 2.61 trillion won, and Samsung reports preliminary results on Thursday.
South Korean stocks fell on Wednesday as foreign investors took profits and traders turned cautious before Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter results, the Korea Times reported. The KOSPI closed at 6,803.90, down 1.98 percent, the lowest finish since September 17. The Kosdaq fell 2.34 percent to 898.43.
Samsung Electronics closed at 268,500 won, down 1.29 percent, after giving up an early gain of more than 2 percent. SK hynix fell 2.82 percent to 1.72 million won. Foreign investors were net sellers of 2.61 trillion won and institutions sold a net 672.6 billion won, while retail investors bought a net 2.5608 trillion won.
The won strengthened 3.2 won against the dollar to 1,340.4. Samsung is due to report preliminary third-quarter figures on Thursday. Analysts expect a sharp rise in operating profit on demand for artificial-intelligence memory, the Korea Times reported, while also noting forecasts have been trimmed since late August.
Wednesday's move is a market close, not an earnings release. No official Samsung figure was available in the report.