Seoul shares snap 6-day winning streak on profit-taking; won sharply down

Seoul shares closed lower Friday, snapping a six-session winning streak as investors locked in profits in technology and other large-cap stocks following recent gains. The Korean won sharply fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark KOSPI fell 63.14 points, or 1 percent, to finish at 6,244.13. The index still enjoyed a weekly gain of 7.5 percent. Trading volume was heavy at 1.14 billion shares worth 52.94 trillion won ($36.8 billion), with decliners far outnumbering gainers 625 to 264. The KOSPI has remained in a bullish phase since the start of the year, surpassing the 4,500-point level for the first time on Jan. 6 and crossing the 5,000-point mark on Jan. 27. It broke through the 6,000-point level Wednesday, less than a month later. On Thursday, the index jumped 3.67 percent to finish at a record high of 6,307.27. Institutional and retail investors purchased a net 491.99 billion won and 6.08 trillion won worth of shares, respectively, while foreign investors sold a net 6.83 trillion won. Analysts said the decline mirrored overnight losses in U.S. technology stocks, where investors enga