Samsung Electronics shares fell more than 5% in early trading on Monday despite the South Korean chipmaker saying its shareholder returns this year could reach as much as 110 trillion won, or about US$79.38 billion.
The stock was down 5.2% at 0013 GMT, extending the pressure after Samsung announced the potential scale of its shareholder returns last week.
The decline came as investors weighed the return plan against the broader performance of South Korea’s technology sector. Rival chipmaker SK Hynix moved in the opposite direction, rising 2.4%, while the benchmark KOSPI fell 0.7%.
The sharp move in Samsung shares highlights the contrasting investor sentiment towards the country’s major semiconductor players, with SK Hynix gaining ground even as Samsung came under heavy selling pressure.
For currency context, the US dollar was trading at 1,385.78 won.
