KOSPI dips for second day running.

(From The Korea Herald)

By Rambabu Garikipati The domestic stock market continued its decline for a second day yesterday, as investors locked in previous gains, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipping below the 800-mark before edging up as trading closed.

The KOSPI declined 1.62 points, or 0.20 percent, to 8030.57, at the end of trading. It hit a hit a high of 805.26 before slipping to its lowest level of 797.62 and then gradually gaining ground. Analysts said the overnight fall of the U.S. Nasdaq market weighed on the Seoul bourse. The Nasdaq, which gets about 40 percent of its value from computer-related stocks, slid 1.4 percent Monday to 1,836.49, its steepest decline in more than two weeks.

"The overnight fall in the Nasdaq index had a negative impact on the Seoul bourse. Local technology shares will likely remain weak until Intel Corp.'s interim checkup of its third quarter performance," said Kim Hak-kyun, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities.

Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is scheduled to update investors on its third quarter on Thursday, with watchers expecting the disclosure to narrow the range for the company's revenue and gross margins. The impact of Nasdaq market on Korean stocks was most pronounced on Samsung Electronics Co. which led decliners among computer-related companies.

Samsung shed 7,500 won, or 1.64 percent, to 450,500 won, while LG Electronics Inc., the nation's second-largest electronics maker, ...