Stocks fall for a third session ahead of U.S. CPI report

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,452.70 points on Monday, down 17.03 points, or 0.69 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks fell for a third session Monday on tech losses as investors remain cautious ahead of the release of key U.S. inflation data this week. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The Kospi lost 17.03 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,452.70. Trading volume was 480.0 million shares worth 7.27 trillion won ($5.69 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 530 to 340.

Institutions sold a net 407.92 billion won worth of shares, while individuals and foreigners bought a net 338.7 billion won and 65.71 billion won, respectively.

Eyes are on the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for January due out Tuesday, which will set the tone for the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening path.

"Investors worry that a strong reading would cause the Fed to reinforce interest rate hike moves, as a recent hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs report and other economic data have indicated the need to continue efforts to bring down the inflation," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.

Last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that disinflation has started, but it has "a long way to go." Several Fed officials have also called for maintaining restrictive rates for some time.

In Seoul, tech and chemicals led the fall of the index, though Samsung Electronics rose 0.16 percent to 62,900 won.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 3.69 percent to 522,000 won, and chip maker SK hynix sank 3.10 percent to 90,600 won.

Samsung SDI fell 1.63 percent to 723,000 won, and LG Chem decreased 0.45 percent to 670,000 won.

Carmakers ended mixed, with automaker Hyundai Motor shedding 1.04 percent to 171,600 won and Kia rising 1.10 percent to 73,200 won.

The local currency ended at 1,277.3 won against the U.S. dollar, up 12.1 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 5.5 basis points to 3.453 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds climbed 7.0 basis points to 3.736 percent.

BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]