Seoul: Seoul shares pared earlier losses late Wednesday morning, supported by retail buying, while weaker-than-expected inflation data in the United States made investors trim Federal Reserve rate-cut bets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.23 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,196.05 as of 11:20 a.m.
According to Yonhap News Agency, individuals bought a net 455.45 billion won (US$328 million) worth of stocks, offsetting institutions' and foreigners' stock selling of 216.21 billion won and 283.6 billion won, respectively. U.S. consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in June, below market expectations, even as companies began passing some tariff-related costs on to consumers, analysts said.
Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.98 percent to 44,023.29 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rising 0.18 percent to 20,677.80. In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.95 percent, leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings went down 3.89 percent, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai declined 1.22 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 1.26 percent, and leading refiner SK Innovation dropped 2.16 percent. Among gainers, state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. rose 1.37 percent, and top wireless carrier SK Telecom edged up 0.36 percent. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.1 percent, and Hyundai Steel climbed 0.71 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,387.35 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 7.15 won from the previous session.