Stocks open lower following hawkish Fed comments

Home > Business > Finance

Stocks open lower following hawkish Fed comments

Published: 19 Jun. 2023, 11:51

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets open on Monday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened lower Monday as investors digested comments from some U.S. Federal Reserve authorities hinting at a possible continuation of rate hikes.

The Kospi fell 12.6 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,613.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said Friday the core inflation was not coming down as he expected. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin called for more rate hikes, citing persistent inflation.

The comments threw cold water on the market betting that the Fed will end the interest rate hikes campaign this year after a highly expected 0.25 percentage-point hike next month.

All U.S. stock indexes finished lower Friday.

In Seoul, top-listed tech and auto shares fell across the board.

Samsung Electronics lost nearly 1 percent, and LG Energy Solution dipped more than 2.5 percent.

Hyundai Motor dropped 0.5 percent, but Kia was up 0.5 percent.

KakaoBank slipped 1.4 percent.

Hybe rose 0.8 percent, along with major shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries gaining 1.2 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,278.4 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 6.5 won from Friday's close.

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