Seoul shares end lower, snapping five-day winning streak

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares ended lower Tuesday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as investors locked in profits on large-cap stocks amid fading hopes for a deal to end the war between Iran and the United States.

The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

After opening 2 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 108.11 points, or 1.55 percent, to close at 6,869.83.

Trade volume was moderate at 399.04 million shares worth 29.64 trillion won (US$20.9 billion) with decliners outnumbering gainers 679 to 195.

Institutions sold a net 784.9 billion won worth of stocks, while foreigners and retail investors bought a net 91.4 billion won and 731.29 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.51 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.32 percent.

Oil prices remained elevated, stoking inflation concerns, while hopes for a deal with Iran faded after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not interested in extending an agreement with Iran that was due to expire.

Investors are now looking to earnings reports from Walmart, Home Depot and Target, due in the coming days, as well as minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which are expected to be made public later this week, for clues on the U.S. central bank's future rate path, analysts said.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 2.19 percent to 268,500 won and top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 3.97 percent to 435,000 won.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dropped 1.21 percent to 1.15 million won and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 2.84 percent to 324,500 won.

Among gainers, Samsung Electronics' chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 1.03 percent to 1.66 million won and Samyang Foods climbed 5.04 percent to 1.33 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,411.8 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 1.2 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 5.1 basis points to 3.847 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds climbed 6.3 basis points to 4.110 percent.