SEOUL– South Korean shares trimmed earlier gains late Wednesday morning amid concerns over a global recession after the U.S. Federal Reserve vowed to continue its monetary tightening to tame inflation.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.64 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,338.93 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent to 32,849.74, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.01 percent to 10,547.11.
Hawkish comments from the U.S. central bank and the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) unexpected yield curve adjustment remain major worries for investors in reorganizing their portfolios, analysts said.
Last week, Fed officials indicated plans to raise the rate to a higher-than-expected level until they are confident inflation has been subdued.
On Tuesday, the BOJ announced it will raise 10-year government bond yields to around 0.5 percent from the previous upper limit of 0.25 percent. The BOJ is expected to raise interest rates next year, joining the Fed after a decade of monetary easing.
Institutions bought a net 123.49 billion won (US$96 million) worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners and individuals’ combined selling valued at 121.27 billion won.
Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.5 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. dropped 0.1 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. shed 1 percent, and leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution was down 1 percent.
Among gainers, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. rose 0.2 percent, state-run Korea Gas Corp. climbed 1.5 percent, and leading refiner SK Innovation Co. added 0.9 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,287.70 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 1.90 won from the previous session’s close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency