SEOUL– Seoul shares trimmed earlier losses late Tuesday morning amid concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive monetary tightening following strong services data.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.21 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,414.11 as of around 11:20 a.m.
U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly picked up in November, prompting speculation the Fed may not imminently scale down the pace of rate increases.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the U.S. central bank could pivot to slower rate rises as soon as December.
“Upbeat services industry activity is bolstering the case for the Fed to keep policy tightening to tame runaway inflation. Such rate worries and the dollar’s strength are weighing on investor sentiment,” Park Hee-cheol, an analyst at Mirae Asset Finance Group, said.
Individuals bought a net 144 billion won (US$110 million) worth of stocks, offsetting institutions and foreigners’ combined stock selling valued at 147 billion won.
Tech and auto shares were lead decliners.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.7 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 0.3 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. shed 0.9 percent and leading auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. dropped 1 percent.
Among gainers, leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.5 percent, Hanjin KAL Corp., the parent firm of national flag carrier Korean Air Co., climbed 1.1 percent, and the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries Co. was up 0.5 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,303.25 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., down 10.65 won from the previous day’s close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency