Seoul: Stocks end week lower as Fed rate-hike bets weigh

[SEOUL] South Korean shares were under pressure on Friday (Feb 11) and closed lower for the week after a jump in US inflation unleashed fears about aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The Korean won weakened and the benchmark bond yield rose.

The benchmark Kospi was down 24.22 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 2,747.71.

Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics fell 0.66 per cent and peer SK Hynix rose 1.93 per cent, while LG Chem dropped 4.24 per cent and Naver slipped 1.21 per cent.

Surging US inflation and the pressure on the Fed to likely raise interest rates affected Korean markets as well, said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

Foreigners were net buyers of 377.2 billion won (S$423.7 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,198.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.17 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,196.5.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,198.1 per dollar, up 0.1 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,198.7.

The Kospi has fallen 7.72 per cent so far this year, and lost 8 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 456.98 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 932, the number of advancing shares was 166.

The won weakened 0.8 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

In money and debt markets, March futures on 3-year treasury bonds fell 0.3 point to 107.41.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 8.1 basis points to 2.345 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 6.3 basis points to 2.749 per cent. REUTERS