South Korean shares fall on foreign selling

South Korean shares fell on Monday as foreign investors turned to net sellers amid lingering concerns over the U.S. exit from quantitative easing. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 7. 59 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 1,855.73. Trading volume stood at 217.22 million shares worth 2.94 trillion won (2.6 billion U.S. dollars). Foreign investors sold local stocks worth around 30 billion won amid worries about the tapering of bond purchases in the United States. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned over the reduction in bond purchases later this year before ending it by mid-2014. Institutional investors sold a net 48.8 billion won worth of shares, keeping their selling streak for three straight sessions. Retail investors bought stocks worth 70.8 billion won, limiting the KOSPI's further decline. Tech and auto shares led the market fall amid stock sales by foreign and institutional investors. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slid 1.2 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor decreased 1.1 percent. The nation's top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis lost 0.9 percent, and the No.2 carmaker Kia Motors dipped 0. 2 percent. Memory chip giant SK Hynix ended in positive territory with a gain of 1.1 percent. Shinhan Financial Group, the nation's No.3 banking group by assets, advanced 0.7 percent. The local currency was quoted at 1,132.4 won against the greenback, up 9.6 won from Friday's close. Bond prices ended sharply lower. The yield on the liquid three- year treasury notes jumped 0.11 percentage point to 2.99 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds surged 0. 11 percentage point to 3.51 percent.