(2nd LD) stocks-summary

(ATTN: ADDS bond yields at bottom; CHANGES photo)

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks sank for the second consecutive session on Friday amid fears that a Democratic Congress could decelerate the pace of data center construction for artificial intelligence (AI). The Korean won was trading sharply lower against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 324.11 points, or 6.02 percent, at 5,059.69, falling as low as 4,911.28.

On Thursday, the index plunged over 5 percent.

The index had plummeted over 8 percent right after the opening bell, triggering the country's bourse operator to suspend trading of KOSPI stocks for 20 minutes.

Trading volume was moderate at 297 million shares worth 27.5 trillion won (US$20.3 billion). Losers far outnumbered winners 757 to 131.

Foreigners were net sellers, offloading a combined 2.77 trillion won of stocks. Retail and institutional investors snapped up a net combined 2.3 trillion won.

"Concerns that the U.S. Congress could further tighten regulations on AI data centers were behind the market plunge," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said, noting such concerns had spread to the entire AI value chain, including semiconductors.

Democrats secured control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections earlier this week, with five states that were flipped to the Democratic Party, including Texas, being top AI data center locations, Lee explained.

But the possibility that U.S. legislators could completely suspend the build-out of data centers is low, he added, saying the market reaction is "excessive."

In Seoul, most market heavyweights closed lower.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics shed 6.35 percent to 188,700 won, while its rival SK hynix plunged 10.44 percent to 1,132,000 won.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor dipped 4.77 percent to 279,500 won, defense giant Hanwha Aerospace fell 2.94 percent to 660,000 won, and financial firm KB Financial slid 3.82 percent to 151,000 won.

Among the winners were IT shares, with portal operator Naver adding 2.87 percent to 190,200 won and Samsung SDS climbing 6.34 percent to 218,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,356.6 won against the U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., down 14.5 won from the previous trading session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 5.6 basis points to 3.613, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds dropped 5.2 basis points to 3.717.

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