Seoul shares open lower amid Fed rate hike worries

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Seoul shares open lower amid Fed rate hike worries

Published: 10 Feb. 2023, 09:46

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,481.52 points on Thursday, up 2.12 points, or 0.09 percent, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Seoul shares opened lower Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as investors remain concerned over the Federal Reserve's continued monetary tightening.

The benchmark Kospi fell 9.82 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,471.70 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1 percent.

Fed officials said interest rates need to remain high for a while to battle inflation, weighing on investor sentiment.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.2 percent, chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.3 percent, car battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 0.7 percent, and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation shed 0.2 percent.

Among gainers, carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.2 percent, national flag carrier Korean Air climbed 0.4 percent, and Hybe, the Korean entertainment agency behind BTS, jumped 4 percent on news it will acquire a 14.8 percent stake in its rival K-pop agency SM Entertainment to become its largest shareholder.

SM Entertainment also soared 14 percent. Hybe said it will buy the controlling stake from SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man for 422.8 billion won ($335.8 million).

The local currency was trading at 1,265.5 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 5.1 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap