South Korea: Stocks fall on renewed trade deal uncertainty

[SEOUL] South Korean shares dropped on Monday after US President Donald Trump's remarks last week cast fresh doubts over the prospects of a trade deal with China.

The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI index ended down 13.14 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 2,124.09, after falling as much as 0.85 per cent in early trade.

President Trump on Friday said he has not agreed to rollback of US tariffs sought by China, sparking fresh doubts about when the world's two largest economies may end a 16-month trade war that has slowed global growth.

Foreigners were net sellers of US$148.20 million worth of shares on the main board.

The KOSPI has risen 4.07 per cent so far this year, and gained 3.1 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 610.97 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 903, the number of advancing shares was 345.

REUTERS