SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks fell for the fifth trading day on Wednesday as financial institutions sold shares.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.66 points, or 0.31 percent, to settle at 2,435.92. Trading volume stood at 754.6 million shares worth 11.6 trillion won (9.9 billion U.S. dollars).
The KOSPI bobbed in and out of the positive territory, turning downward in late trading as institutional investors dumped stocks.
Foreign and retail investors were net buyers, limiting the KOSPI's further decline.
Market watchers said investors refrained from taking an active position in the stock market amid the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s regular meeting.
Large-cap shares ended mixed. Memory chip giant SK Hynix slipped 0.5 percent, and the most-used search engine Naver declined 1.6 percent. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics closed unchanged.
Leading chemical firm LG Chem tumbled 5.4 percent, but the country's biggest automaker Hyundai Motor gained 2.5 percent. The No. 1 auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis advanced 3.6 percent, and biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion added 0.3 percent.
The small-cap KOSDAQ rose 3.18 points, or 0.35 percent, to close at 896.28.
The local currency finished at 1,176.1 won versus the greenback, up 2.9 won from the prior close. The South Korean currency appreciated for the second straight day amid the strong trend of emerging market currencies.
Bond prices ended mixed. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes added 0.3 basis points to 0.91 percent, but the return on the 10-year government bonds dipped 1.8 basis point to 1.485 percent. Enditem
