SEOUL, Seoul stocks traded lower late Friday morning following overnight Wall Street losses, as investors faced renewed fears over faster rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stocks Price Index (KOSPI) had inched down 31.99 points, or 1.32 percent, to 2,387.10 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, Wall Street closed sharply down after jobless claims showed that the U.S. labor market is still resilient, casting uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s rate hike path.
The S&P fell 1.85 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 1.66 percent, and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite declined 2.05 percent.
Investors are also awaiting U.S. jobs data due later in the day, which will set the overall tone for the Fed’s monetary tightening direction.
Large cap shares in Seoul were trading lower.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics went down 1.66 percent, and chipmaker SK hynix lost 1.99 percent.
Leading battery maker LG energy Solutions declined 1.09 percent, and Samsung SDI fell 0.41 percent, while SK Innovation, the parent company of battery maker SK On, rose 4.67 percent.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.79 percent, and portal operator Naver decreased 1.98 percent.
The local currency was changing hands at 1,327.4 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., down 5.2 won from the previous session’s close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency