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Korean shares fall Thursday amid concerns over Credit Suisse fiasco

Published: 16 Mar. 2023, 17:17

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,377.91 points on Thursday, down 1.81 points, or 0.08 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks closed slightly lower Thursday amid concerns that the fiasco surrounding global investment bank Credit Suisse may worsen and harm the global financial sector. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi dropped 1.81 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 2,377.91 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 314 million shares worth some 7.7 trillion won ($5.9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 670 to 220.

Institutions sold a net 3.9 billion won and foreigners offloaded 86 billion won, while retail investors offloaded 69 billion won.

Investors remain worried that the Swiss-based Credit Suisse, hit by scandals and losing hold of investors' confidence, may face further uncertainties down the road.

The local stock markets have come under turbulence this week amid woes over the falls and crises of global lenders.

Also, market players are trying to gauge how the Federal Reserve will respond to the recent turmoil triggered by U.S. banks amid still higher inflation.

On Wednesday, Seoul stocks rebounded from the aftermath of the failure of two U.S. banks: Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank.

"The Credit Suisse crash seems to have passed its worst, but investors still seem to be bracing themselves for more possible cases of a liquidity crunch at other lenders," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.

In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics added 0.17 percent to 59,900 won, while chipmaker SK hynix slid 0.13 percent to 79,000 won.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 1.95 percent to 576,000 won, while Hyundai Motor declined 0.17 percent to 174,000 won.

Robot developer Rainbow Robotics rose 29.98 percent to 112,300 won and hit the ceiling on expectations of being acquired by Samsung Electronics.

The local currency closed at 1,313 won against the greenback, up 9.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds shed 8.4 basis points to 3.392 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dropped 22.4 basis points to 3.464 percent.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [[email protected]]