Seoul shares tumble as foreigners, institutions dump holdings

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,376.46 points on Wednesday, down 33.56 points, or 1.39 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Seoul shares tumbled on Wednesday as foreigners and institutions dumped holdings amid worries over the U.S. Federal Reserve's continued aggressive rate hikes and their impact on the global economy. The won also slid to the lowest point in more than 13 years.

The Kospi fell 1.39 percent, or 33.56 points, to 2,376.46. Trading volume was moderate at 370.02 million shares worth 7.29 trillion won ($5.3 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 768 to 119.

Foreigners sold a net 493.9 billion won worth of stocks and institutions a net 227.8 billion won, while retail investors purchased a net 688.7 billion won worth of stocks.

"The strong dollar was the main downward factor in today's session for Asian markets among others. Rapid depreciation of regional currencies could further reduce the appetite for risky Asian assets," Park Hee-cheol, an analyst at Mirae Asset, said.

Most stocks declined across the board.

Samsung Electronics fell 1.9 percent to 56,000 won, and chipmaker SK hynix declined 1.5 percent to 90,400 won. Korean Air Lines dropped 1.2 percent to 25,300 won, and steelmaker Posco Holdings shed 2.6 percent to 246,000 won.

Kakao lost 3.16 percent to 67,500 won, and Naver fell 1.49 percent to 231,500 won.

Bio stocks also dropped.

Samsung Biologics shed 0.61 percent to 811,000 won, and Celltrion declined 1.10 percent to 179,000 won.

Auto and chemical stocks were among gainers, with carmaker Hyundai Motor rising 0.5 percent to 202,000 won and chemical firm LG Chem gaining 0.7 percent to 623,000 won.

The won closed at 1,384.20 won against the dollar on Wednesday, up 12.50 won from the previous session's close. Wednesday's closing was the lowest level since March 30, 2009, when it fell to as low as 1,391.50.

The Kosdaq dropped 11.27 points, or 1.45 percent, to close at 768.19 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 0.2 basis points to 3.685 percent, and the yield on the 10-year government bond advanced 2.6 basis points to 3.736 percent.

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