SEOUL, Seoul stocks remained in negative territory late Wednesday morning, amid renewed fears of further rate hikes following hawkish comments from the chair of the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 33.68 points, or 1.37 percent, to 2,429.67 points as of 11:20 a.m.
The main bourse continued to trade lower as foreigners and institutional investors sold shares after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested Tuesday (U.S. time), the central bank will continue its inflation-fighting efforts for some time.
The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points last month after a 50 basis point increase in December, on top of a series of three-quarter point hikes.
Most large-cap shares in Seoul traded lower.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics declined 0.99 percent, and smaller rival SK hynix dipped 2.59 percent.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor inched down 0.11 percent, while its sister affiliate Kia advanced 1.16 percent and tech firm LG Electronics was up 2.97 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,320.7 won against the greenback, down 21.3 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency