Seoul shares open slightly lower on rate hike concerns

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Seoul shares open slightly lower on rate hike concerns

Published: 17 Apr. 2023, 09:47 Updated: 17 Apr. 2023, 10:16

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock and foreign exchange markets close on Friday. [NEWS1]

Stocks opened marginally lower Monday as investors took to the sidelines amid lingering concerns over rake hikes.

The Kospi shed 3.74 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,567.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Kospi finished higher Friday for a sixth consecutive session after softer-than-expected U.S. economic data showed that inflation is slowing, adding to hopes the Federal Reserve will dial back its aggressive rate-hike cycle.

Wall Street, however, finished lower, as a series of economic data still pointed to a possibility of at least one more rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.42 percent, the S&P 500 edged down 0.21 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.35 percent.

In Seoul, most top-cap shares traded lower.

LG Energy Solution fell 1.35 percent, and Samsung SDI lost 1.05 percent. Naver shed 0.65 percent.

Among the few gainers, Samsung Electronics added 0.31 percent and Posco Holdings was up 3.7 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,306.1 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 7.2 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap