Shares extend losing streak to fourth day Wednesday

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,382.81 points on Wednesday, down 10.35 points, or 0.43 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Shares extended their losing streak to a fourth day Wednesday amid concerns the Federal Reserve may keep its aggressive monetary tightening following solid U.S. economic data. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi retreated 10.35 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,382.81. Trading volume was moderate at 323.9 million shares worth 5.9 trillion won ($4.5 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 540 to 311.

Institutions offloaded a net 17.5 billion won worth of stocks and foreigners a net 201.1 billion won, while retail investors purchased a net 201.4 billion won.

A stronger-than-expected jobs report and service industry activity bolstered the case for the Fed to keep policy tightening to tame runaway inflation, analysts said.

"Such rate hike worries and a strong won resulted in foreign and institutional selling for a fourth straight session through Wednesday," Hana Securities's analyst Lim Seung-mi said.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks closed mixed.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.5 percent to 58,900 won, and SK hynix dropped 2.59 percent to 78,900 won.

Hyundai Motor declined 0.9 percent to 163,000 won, and its affiliate Kia fell 0.15 percent to 65,000 won.

Refiner SK Innovation shed 3.5 percent to 164,500 won.

Tech stocks closed lower. Kakao declined 0.89 percent to 55,500 won and Naver shed 1.08 percent to 183,500 won.

Bio stocks closed mixed. Samsung Biologics fell 0.84 percent to 831,000 won, while Celltrion gained 1.45 percent to 174,500 won.

Among gainers, national flag carrier Korean Air rose 3.6 percent to 26,050 won, and state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) climbed 0.8 percent to 19,800 won.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution was up 0.7 percent to 563,000 won.

The local currency ended at 1,321.70 won against the greenback, up 2.90 won from the previous day's close.

The Kosdaq lost 1.30 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 718.14 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds added 3.2 basis points to 3.666 percent, and the yield on 10-year government bonds gained 0.7 basis points to 3.510 percent.

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