SEOUL– South Korean stocks snapped their three-day winning streak Wednesday, with investors in their wait-and-see mode for the third-quarter earnings season amid lingering woes over aggressive rate hikes. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 12.51 points, or 0.56 percent, to close at 2,237.44 points
Trading volume was moderate at about 884 million shares worth some 7.7 trillion won (US$5.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 560 to 291.
Institutions sold a net 83 billion won and retail investors offloaded 90 billion won, while foreigners bought 150 billion won.
After a choppy start, stocks increasingly gained ground on auto gains.
Solid gains on U.S. financial giants helped lessen investors’ concerns about downbeat earnings at home.
But the KOSPI’s further growth is hindered by woes about the hawkish stance over policy interest rates here and in major economies.
Stocks fell back to negative terrain in the afternoon as investors turned risk-averse.
“Although U.S. firms are pulling off better third-quarter earnings than expected, KOSPI-listed stocks are seeing a revised-down earnings forecast,” Daeshin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said.
Auto and battery heavyweights performed strong, while tech and bio retreated.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 1.24 percent to 55,800 won, and chip giant SK hynix lost 3.03 percent to 92,900 won.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor closed unchanged at 168,000 won, while steelmaker POSCO Holdings grew 2 percent to 255,000 won.
Major chemical firm LG Chem went down 2.95 percent to 593,000 won, but battery maker LG Energy Solutions increased 1.74 percent to 497,500 won.
Kakao, the operator of the country’s most popular mobile messenger app, KakaoTalk, gained 0.81 percent to 49,800 won.
The Korean won closed at 1,426.2 won against the U.S. dollar, down 3.5 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 8.9 basis points to 4.331 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond added 11.3 basis points to 4.406 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency