Seoul shares sharply down late Wed. morning on losses in chips, banks

South Korean stocks traded steeply lower late Wednesday morning, dragged down by losses from chip and auto shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 20.39 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,613.06 as of 11:20 a.m. Chipmakers were the biggest losers in the morning following an overnight drop in tech shares on Wall Street stemming from poorer-than-expected earnings outlooks of chip equipment maker ASML Holdings. Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, fell 1.97 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix sank 2.38 percent. Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment producer, tumbled 3.04 percent. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.41 percent and its sister Kia retreated 0.9 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings declined 1.56 percent, and major game publisher NCSOFT dipped 1.5 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,363.75 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.45 won from the previous session. Source: Yonhap News Agency