SEOUL– Seoul shares finished lower Friday on concerns over further rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve following hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data. The Korean won sharply fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 24.27 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at 2,451.21. The main index fell 0.74 percent from a week earlier.
Trading volume was moderate at 507.5 million shares worth 8.26 trillion won (US$6.35 billion), with losers outpacing winners 475 to 395.
Institutions sold a net 384.23 billion won worth of stocks, while foreign and retail investors bought a combined 344.88 billion won worth of shares.
Overnight, Wall Street tumbled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.26 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shedding 1.78 percent. The S&P 500 retreated 1.38 percent.
January’s producer price index, released Thursday (U.S. time), rose at a higher-than-expected 0.7 percent. Initial jobless claims fell for the week ending Feb. 11, suggesting the U.S. economy is holding up despite continued rate hikes, and that the Fed could continue its tightening campaign to bring down inflation.
The higher-than-anticipated U.S. Consumer Price Index, out earlier in the week, also reinforced investors’ fears that the Fed will raise borrowing rates more to bring down inflation.
In Seoul, most large-cap stocks retreated.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics declined 1.73 percent to 62,600 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shed 0.97 percent to 92,000 won.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution went down 2.91 percent to 533,000 won, and Samsung SDI retreated 4.22 percent to 703,000 won.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor slid 0.17 percent to 179,000 won, and its affiliate Kia lost 0.13 percent to 76,400 won.
The local currency ended at 1,299.50 won against the U.S. dollar, down 14.7 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys jumped 13.5 basis points to 3.639 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds shot up 14.7 basis points to 3.651 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency