Stocks open lower on Fed's hawkish outlook

Finance

Published: 21 Sep. 2023, 10:02 Updated: 21 Sep. 2023, 10:05

Stocks open lower on Fed's hawkish outlook

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

Stocks opened lower Thursday as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep its interest rates steady while hinting at one more rate hike within the year.

The Kospi lost 12.91 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,546.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower, with the S&P 500 dropping almost 1 percent and the Nasdaq composite plunging 1.53 percent amid a slide in tech giants, including Apple and Tesla.

Kospi remains nearly flat on eve of U.S. rate decision

The Fed left its key rate steady at 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent range after the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting but raised the possibility of another rate hike later this year in its pursuit of robust employment and price stability.

"We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate, and we intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our objectives," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics gained 0.14 percent, while SK hynix lost 1.36 percent.

LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI both dropped more than 1.2 percent.

Hyundai Motor retreated 0.62 percent, and Kia went down 0.49 percent.

Posco Holdings lost 1.01 percent, and Posco Future M retreated 0.61 percent. LG Chem also shot down more than 3 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,334.7 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 4.6 won from Wednesday's close.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]