Seoul shares extend losses late Thursday morning amid inflation worries
A stock ticker at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the won-dollar exchange rate and the benchmark KOSPI, Thursday. Yonhap
Seoul shares extended losses late Thursday morning, tracking Wall Street's downturn, as elevated oil prices stoked inflation concerns.
After opening 0.07 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) backtracked almost immediately, trading down 54.22 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,749.68 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.66 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.22 percent.
Institutions and foreigners sold a net 457.28 billion won ($342 million) and 666.37 billion won worth of stocks, while individuals bought a net 834.66 billion won.
Overall investors seemed wary as higher oil prices are adding to inflationary pressures, and the U.S. Federal Reserve has signaled it may need to raise rates this year to tame inflation.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.
Market behemoth Samsung Electronics fell 0.56 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 3.05 percent.
Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dropped 5.86 percent, and shipping firm HMM shed 2.57 percent.
Among gainers, chip giant SK hynix rose 1.33 percent, and battery maker Samsung SDI climbed 3.74 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,337.35 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 1.65 won from the previous stock trading session's close.