Stocks trade down Thursday on overnight dip on Wall Street

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,402.23 points on Thursday, down 22.18 points, or 0.91 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks traded lower Thursday on an overnight dip on Wall Street amid the U.S. midterm election results and a crash in cryptocurrencies. The won fell against the dollar.

The Kospi retreated 22.18 points, or 0.91 percent, to close at 2,402.23 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 886 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($6.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 525 to 319.

Institutions sold a net 158 billion won worth of stocks and foreigners also offloaded 117 billion won, while retail investors bought 237 billion won.

Stocks got off to a lackluster start, taking a cue from overnight Wall Street losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.95 percent Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 retreating 2.48 percent and 2.08 percent, respectively.

Investors were paying keen attention to the results of the U.S. midterm elections. Their appetite for risky assets also dwindled amid volatility in the cryptocurrency markets.

"The U.S. stock markets performed bearish as the Republicans are not expected to dominate the U.S. midterms as expected. The local stock market seems to have been affected by that," said Mirae Asset Securities analyst Seo Sang-young.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics dropped 2.58 percent to 60,400 won, and SK hynix slipped 0.11 percent to 89,100 won.

Hyundai Motor closed unchanged at 169,500 won, with its smaller affiliate Kia shedding 1.19 percent to 66,600 won. LG Chem decreased 2.8 percent to 695,000 won. LG Energy Solution rose 1 percent to 605,000 won.

Naver dipped 2.22 percent to 176,000 won, while Kakao fell 2.50 percent to 50,800 won.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering declined 1.56 percent to 75,900 won.

The won closed at 1,377.5 won against the dollar, up 12.7 won from the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq declined 6.82 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 707.78 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds decreased 3.5 basis points to 4.040 percent, and the yield on 10-year government bonds fell 7.9 basis points to 4.089 percent.

BY LIM JEONG-WON, YONHAP [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]