Seoul shares end lower; financials, Kia drag

Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS), the world's No.2 memory chip
maker, continued to ride higher on Thursday on hopes of a stake
sale by creditors, and on latest announcements by chip rivals to
cut output. Hynix ended 1.0 percent higher at 20,300 won.

Local institutional investors sold a net 691.7 billion won
worth of shares, Korea Exchange data showed. Retail investors
bought a net 515 billion won.

Korea Exchange also said asset managers sold a net 1.26
trillion won worth of stocks, the biggest historical net selling
amount. But pension funds were net buyers of 547 billion won, the
biggest net buying so far this year.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by 437 to 361, with 82 titles
ending flat.

Trade volume stood at 357 million shares worth 6.09 trillion
won, compared with 415 million shares worth 5.4 trillion won on
Wednesday.

The KOSPI 200 September futures index KSU8 lost 2.25 points
to 186.25 and the KOSPI 200 spot index .KS200 fell 3.23 points
to 185.27. The junior Kosdaq .KQ11 market rose 0.84 percent to
454.78 points.

Move on day -1.48 percent

12-month high 2,085.45 1 NOV 2007

12-month low 1,392.55 2 SEP 2008

Change on yr -24 percent

All time high 2,085.45 1 NOV 2007

All time low 93.10 06 JAN 1981