Seoul: Stocks tumble on hawkish Fed; won hits three-month low

[SEOUL] South Korean shares fell on Monday, tracking global stocks, as investors were spooked after the US Federal Reserve's surprise hawkish stance last week. The won touched a three-month low and the benchmark bond yield fell.

The benchmark Kospi ended down 27.14 points or 0.83 per cent at 3,240.79, logging the sharpest decline since June 9.

Wall Street's main indices finished sharply lower on Friday and Asian stocks dropped on Monday, after St Louis Fed President James Bullard said the shift toward faster policy tightening was a "natural" response to economic growth.

"Kospi tracked Wall Street on Bullard's hawkish comments," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

Among heavyweights, chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 0.75 per cent and 2.01 per cent, respectively, and internet giant Naver slid 0.25 per cent.

Foreigners were net sellers of 892.1 billion won (S$1.06 billion) worth of shares on the main board.

"South Korea's upbeat 20-day exports data limited losses in early session but tumbling Japanese shares increased market volatility, further pulling down Kospi," Mr Seo added.

South Korea's exports in the first 20 days of June soared 29.5 per cent from a year earlier, customs agency data showed on Monday.

The won ended at 1,134.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.21 per cent lower than its previous close of 1,132.3. It weakened as much as 0.57 per cent to its lowest level since March 11.

In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,134.5, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,134.1.

In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.06 point to 110.24.

The benchmark 10-year yield fell by 3.8 basis points to 2.003 per cent.

REUTERS