KB News Desk
The South Korean benchmark Kospi steadied after retreating sharply in early trading Monday as concerns over rising US interest rates prompted investors to offload shares.
The Kospi stood at 6,795.65 as of 2:30 p.m., up 0.1 percent from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The index fell as much as 3.55 percent to 6,547.76 shortly after the opening bell before paring some of its losses. Its intraday high was 6,808.07 as of press time.
Foreign investors offloaded 919.7 billion won ($666 million) worth of shares on the main bourse, while institutional investors dumped 547.2 billion won. Retail investors were the only net buyers on the market, purchasing shares amounting to 249 billion won.
The early sell-off came after US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote speech at the Jackson Hole economic policy symposium Friday reinforced expectations for higher interest rates, dampening prospects for increased capital expenditure on artificial intelligence.
Following the speech, US stocks closed lower, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling 0.25 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index extended its decline to 3.47 percent.
The Bank of Korea’s 0.25 percentage point rate hike last week also added to negative investor sentiment. The rate increase, which marked the second consecutive hike by the central bank, raised concerns that tighter monetary conditions could weigh on corporate investment and economic growth.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics shares gained 0.49 percent to 258,250 won as of 2:30 p.m., after plunging to as low as 246,000 won earlier in the day. SK hynix gained 0.48 percent to 1.661 million won, after hitting an intraday low of 1.577 million won.
Stocks tied to semiconductor giants, including SK Square, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung C&T, all hovered around the flatline during trading.
