Stocks little changed as rate worries continue to weigh

Finance

Published: 07 Feb. 2022, 17:04

Stocks little changed as rate worries continue to weigh

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,745.06 points on Monday, down 5.2 points, or 0.19 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended their three-day winning streak on Monday, largely as investors attempted to cash in profits from recent stock rallies. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi retreated 5.2 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 2,745.06 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 410 million shares worth some 11.1 trillion won ($9.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 467 to 385.

Institutions sold a net 834 billion won of stocks and foreigners offloaded 5 billion won, while retail investors bought 810 billion won.

The key stock index got off to a weak start and deepened losses amid institutional sell-offs.

Along with profit-taking, analysts also attributed the sell-offs to the estimate-beating U.S. jobs data in January, released late last week, that fanned concerns about the Federal Reserve's hawkish policy tightening.

"Most large caps retreated except LG Energy Solution. Investors seem to have kept their LG Energy Solution shares ahead of the upcoming MSCI review, while dumping others," said Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Huh Jae-hwan.

"Overall, investors seem to have taken to the sidelines due to the lingering worries about policy tightening," he added.

Samsung Electronics moved down 1.35 percent to 73,000 won, and chipmaker SK hynix lost 1.2 percent to 123,000 won.

Chemical firm LG Chem plunged 5.75 percent to 639,000 won. Pharmaceutical company Samsung Biologics shed 0.78 percent to 763,000 won, and Celltrion dipped 0.95 percent to 157,000 won.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.84 percent to 186,500 won.

Among gainers, LG Energy Solution soared 8.73 percent to 548,000 won, and Kakao Bank added 0.59 percent to 42,350 won.

The local currency closed at 1,200.7 won against the dollar, up 3.7 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq lost 3.47 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 899.40.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 4.1 basis points to 2.236 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond increased 7.4 basis points to 1.91 percent.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, YONHAP [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]