Roundup: S. Korean shares fall on foreign sales

South Korean shares fell for the first time in three sessions Thursday as foreigners sold off stocks on worries about volatile oil prices that led to Wall Street losses overnight.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 10.56 points, or 0.54 percent, to 1,951.02 at the close. Trading volume stood at 385.49 million shares worth 5.17 trillion won (4.73 billion U.S. dollars).

Western Text Intermediate for March delivery declined 3.9 percent to settle at 44.45 U.S. dollars per barrel in New York overnight, marking the lowest in March 2009.

The sharp fall sparked worries about volatile oil prices, sending U.S. stocks to fall more than 1 percent overnight.

Demand to lock in recent profits flown into the market as the KOSPI advanced by more than 60 points in the short term.

Market watchers said the Thursday decline should be viewed as breath-taking movement though there remained worries about volatile oil prices.

Foreigners reduced stock holdings by 243.7 billion won, but institutional and retail investors bought stocks worth 125.3 billion won and 108.8 billion won respectively.

Most large-cap shares lost ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 1.3 percent, and memory chip giant SK Hynix declined 3.7 percent. The biggest auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis fell 1.6 percent, and the largest life insurer Samsung Life Insurance slipped 1.7 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor gained 0.9 percent, and its affiliate Kia Motors increased 1.4 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO added 0.6 percent.

The South Korean currency finished at 1,093.9 won against the greenback, down 9.4 won from Wednesday's close.

Bond prices ended higher. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes fell 0.6 basis points to 1.998 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds lost 3.2 basis points to 2.227 percent. Endi