(RTTNews) - The South Korean stock market is trading weak on Monday with investors indulging in some heavy selling in shipping and banking stocks. Despite fairly buoyant U.S. jobs data, a section of investors appear keen on taking some profits after recent solid gains.
The benchmark KOSPI index, which edged up to 1,731 in early trades but declined to around 1,711 subsequently, is currently down 3.5 points or 0.2% at 1,720.
Among bank stocks, Korea Exchange Bank is trading lower by 1.8%, KB Financial is down with a loss of 1.2% and Woori Finance is down 2.6%, while Shinhan Financial is down with a marginal loss.
In the shipping space, Daewoo Shipbuilding is trading 4.5% down, STX Pan Ocean is losing about 4%, Samsung Heavy Industries is down with a loss of 3.6% and Hyundai Heavy Industries is trading lower by 2.5%.
Among automobile stocks, Kia Motor and Hyundai Motor are up 2.5% and 2% respectively, while Ssangyong Motor is down with a loss of 6.8%.
Technology stocks, Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics and LG Display LCD are up 1%-2%. LG Electronics, however, is down in negative territory with a loss of about 1.2%.
Oil and telecommunications stocks are trading weak. Airliners and steel stocks are up with modest gains.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia and Singapore are trading notably higher, while Malaysia and Japan are up with modest gains. Markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are closed for Easter Monday, while those in China and Taiwan are closed on account of Tomb-Sweeping Day.
U.S. and European markets were closed on Friday due to Good Friday holiday.
U.S. payroll employment showed a notable increase in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the increase in jobs was somewhat smaller than economists had been anticipating.
The report showed that non-farm payroll employment increased by 162,000 jobs in March following a revised decrease of 14,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 184,000 jobs compared to the loss of 36,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
While the increase in employment fell short of economist estimates, it still marked the fastest pace of job growth since March of 2007.
Additionally, the Labor Department said that the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7% in March, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates. The increase in employment was partly due to job growth in the temporary help services and health care sectors, which added 40,000 jobs and 27,000 jobs, respectively.
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