Shares stay steady as market awaits Fed, BOK decisions

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Shares stay steady as market awaits Fed, BOK decisions

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,496.81 points on Jan. 15, down 0.02 percent, or 0.59 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,496.81 points on Jan. 15, down 0.02 percent, or 0.59 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

 
Shares showed little change at close Wednesday as investors await key U.S. inflation data amid trimmed bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts and the Bank of Korea's (BOK) key rate decision.
 
The benchmark Kospi fell 0.59 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,496.81.
 
The Kosdaq fell 6.43 points, or 0.90 percent, to close at 711.61.  
 
Trade volume was moderate at 525.6 million shares worth 9 trillion won ($6.2 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 592 to 270.
 
Foreigners and individuals bought a combined 168 billion won in stocks, offsetting institutions' stock selling valued at 255.3 billion won.
 
Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.52 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 0.23 percent.
 
Investors now await the U.S. consumer price index report due later in the day, as it may provide clues for the future path of the Fed's rate policy amid trimmed bets on rate cuts.
 
They also await the BOK's rate decision on Thursday.
 
"Institutional selling weighed on the index. The detainment of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol didn't have much effect on the market, as it was already factored in," Lee Young-won, an analyst at Heungkuk Securities, said.
 
Yoon was detained earlier in the day over his failed martial law bid, ending a weekslong standoff with investigators. He faces charges of insurrection over the short-lived martial law on Dec. 3.
 
In Seoul, shipbuilding stocks were the lead gainers.
 
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering jumped 3.18 percent to 243,500 won, and Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, surged 6.36 percent to 51,000 won.
 
Shipyard stocks have rallied after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said earlier this month the U.S. may use its allies in its efforts to build naval vessels. Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
 
Korean Air rose 1.32 percent to 23,000 won, and Korea Aerospace Industries gained 0.38 percent to 53,000 won.
 
Among decliners, Samsung Electronics fell 0.37 percent to 53,700 won, Hyundai Motor declined 0.68 percent to 220,500 won and LG Energy Solution shed 1.82 percent to 351,500 won.
 
The local currency was quoted at 1,461.20 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 2 won from the previous session.
 
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. Three-year government bond yields rose 2.5 basis points to 2.669 percent, while the return on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds rose by 0.3 basis points to 4.789 percent.
 
 

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]
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