Seoul shares down 2nd day amidst U.S. debt ceiling woes

Home > Business > Finance

print dictionary print

Seoul shares down 2nd day amidst U.S. debt ceiling woes

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,554.69 points on Thursday, down 0.5 percent, or 12.76 points, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,554.69 points on Thursday, down 0.5 percent, or 12.76 points, from the previous trading day. [NEWS1]

Stocks ended lower for the second day in a row Thursday, as uncertainties continue around the United States' debt ceiling to avoid a federal default. The won fell against the dollar.
 
The Kospi shed 12.76 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 2,554.69. Trading volume was moderate at 903.89 million shares worth 9.27 trillion won ($6.99 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 681 to 182.
 
The index opened slightly higher on the back of gains of chipmakers but turned lower on heavy institutional selling.
 
Institutional sellers sold a net 588.89 billion won worth of shares, while retail and foreign investors bought a net 376.54 billion won and 205.68 billion won worth of shares, respectively.
 
Investors remain wary of the drawn out U.S. debt ceiling talks, which now have eight days left until the June 1 deadline.
 
Eyes were also on the Bank of Korea, as it held interest rates steady at 3.5 percent as widely expected Thursday and cut this year's growth estimate amid the global economic slowdown.
 
"Coupled with concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling deal, the future policy path of the Federal Reserve has also affected investor sentiment," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.
 
In Seoul, most top-cap shares ended lower, though solid gains of chipmakers limited the fall of the index.
 
Samsung Electronics rose 0.44 percent to 68,800 won, and SK hynix spiked 5.94 percent to 103,500 won.
 
Their rise came after U.S. chipmaker Nvidia shares rose by about 25 percent in after-hours trading on a report that booming demand for artificial intelligence processors would fuel revenue growth.
 
But bio firm Samsung Biologics dipped 1.64 percent to 779,000 won, and Celltrion sank 3.3 percent to 173,100 won.
 
Hyundai Motor dropped 1.93 percent to 203,500 won, and Kia also dropped 2.24 percent to 87,100 won.
 
The local currency ended at 1,326 won against the dollar, up 8.6 won from the previous session's close.
 
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds advanced 11.0 basis points to 3.481 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds climbed 4.9 basis points to 3.748 percent.
 
 
 
 
 

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)