Stocks retreat amid concerns about inflation at home and abroad

Finance

Published: 14 Jul. 2022, 17:59

Stocks retreat amid concerns about inflation at home and abroad

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,322.32 points on Thursday, down 6.29 points, or 0.27 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks retreated Thursday after a choppy session amid jitters about growing inflation at home and in major economies. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi declined 6.29 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 2,322.32 points.

Trading volume was relatively low at about 344 million shares worth some 6.4 trillion won ($4.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 433 to 418.

Institutions sold a net 534.4 billion won worth of stocks, while foreigners bought a net 398.0 billion won and retail investors purchased a net 105.4 billion won.

Stocks opened lower, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns about fast-growing inflation.

Overnight, U.S. stocks dropped as the estimate-beating consumer price index for June fanned worries that the Federal Reserve can accelerate its rate hike moves. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.67 percent, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.15 percent.

Trading turned increasingly choppy in the afternoon.

"It seems like investors are divided over how to interpret the U.S. consumer price index. Stocks seem to have rebounded on investors' expectations that the fallen fuel prices are not projected on the index yet and will eventually pick out later," Shinhan Investment researcher Choi Yoo-joon said.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics slid 0.86 percent to 57,500 won, and Samsung Biologics declined 0.84 percent to 825,000 won.

Hyundai Motor decreased 0.54 percent to 182,500 won, and chipmaker SK hynix closed unchanged at 94,000 won. Internet portal operator Naver lost 1.68 percent to 233,500 won, and Kakao gained 0.28 percent to 72,100 won. LG Energy Solution inched up 0.12 percent to 399,500 won, and LG Chem increased 2.51 percent to 530,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,312.1 won against the dollar, up 5.2 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq gained 2.90 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 766.08 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 5.1 basis points to 3.263 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond lost 3.9 basis points to 2.93 percent.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, YONHAP [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]