Seoul: Stocks fall for fourth session as Fed decision looms

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell for a fourth straight session on Wednesday (Jan 26) as investors awaited a US Federal Reserve decision that could signal an interest rate hike in March. The Korean won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark Kospi fell 11.15 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 2,709.24.

Among heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics fell 0.95 per cent and peer SK Hynix slipped 0.42 per cent, while LG Chem rose 3.27 per cent and Naver dropped 2.8 per cent.

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases exceeded 13,000 for the first time on Wednesday, driven by the spread of the Omicron variant, as the government launched a new pilot testing scheme to meet skyrocketing demand.

The underlying fear in the market was with the Fed's possible rate hikes, while geopolitical concerns surrounding Ukraine also hurt market sentiment, said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

Foreigners were net sellers of 244 billion won (S$274.1 million) worth of shares on the main board.

The won was quoted at 1,197.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.08 per cent higher than its previous close at 1,198.6.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,197.4 per dollar, down 0.1 per cent from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its 1-month contract was quoted at 1,198.2.

The Kospi has fallen 9.01 per cent so far this year and 9.4 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the Kospi index was 466.07 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 930, the number of advancing shares was 485.

The won has lost 0.7 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

In money and debt markets, March futures on 3-year treasury bonds rose 0.06 point to 108.07.

The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.4 basis points to 2.16 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.2 basis point to 2.574 per cent.

REUTERS