SEOUL– South Korean stocks traded lower late Thursday morning as investors were worried about the U.S. central bank’s more aggressive monetary tightening and its possible impact on global economic growth.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had fallen 33.38 points, or 1.22 percent, to trade at 2,701.65 points as of 11:20 a.m.
The market opened lower and extended losses, as the Federal Reserve’s minutes of its March meeting showed officials are considering raising rates by a half percentage point, rather than the usual quarter percentage point.
They also “generally” agreed to slash up to $95 billion per month from the bank’s balance sheet in a move to bring the soaring inflation under control, according to the minutes.
Investors are also closely watching the developments of the Ukraine crisis amid expectations of additional Western sanctions against Russia.
Most big-cap shares traded lower on the Seoul bourse, with tech and chemical firms leading the fall.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.44 percent despite a stellar first-quarter performance in its earnings guidance. The South Korean tech giant estimated its operating profit at 14.1 trillion won (US$11.5 billion) for the first three months of the year, up 50.3 percent from a year ago.
No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix tumbled 1.77 percent, and major battery maker LG Energy Solution sank 2.81 percent, while Samsung SDI went down 2.68 percent, and LG Chem decreased 2.64 percent.
Internet portal operator Naver shed 1.82 percent, and Kakao dived 4.29 percent.
But bio shares traded higher, with Samsung BioLogics going up 0.62 percent and Celltrion rising 0.3 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,217.80 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.5 won from the previous session’s close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency