Seoul shares turn lower after opening up 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 turned lower after opening up Thursday, largely due to inflation worries stoked by elevated oil prices.
After opening 0.07 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost ground, trading down 53.32 points, or 0.78 percent, to 6,750.58 as of 9:15 a.m.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.66 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.22 percent.
Investors remain 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 0.19 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 2.53 percent.
Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dropped 3.5 percent, and shipping firm HMM shed 2.34 percent.
Among gainers, chip giant SK hynix rose 0.75 percent, and battery maker Samsung SDI climbed 3.2 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,337.80 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.2 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.