Seoul, Oct 8 (IANS) Seoul shares extended losses late on Thursday morning, tracking Wall Street’s downturn, as elevated oil prices stoked inflation concerns.
After opening 0.07 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) backtracked almost immediately, trading down 54.22 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,749.68 as of 11:20 am, reports Yonhap news agency.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.66 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.22 percent.
Institutions and foreigners sold a net 457.28 billion won (US$342 million) and 666.37 billion won worth of stocks, while individuals bought a net 834.66 billion won.
Overall investors seemed wary as higher oil prices are adding to inflationary pressures, and the U.S. Federal Reserve has signaled it may need to raise rates this year to tame inflation.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.
Market behemoth Samsung Electronics fell 0.56 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 3.05 percent.
Defence giant Hanwha Aerospace dropped 5.86 percent, and shipping firm HMM shed 2.57 percent.
Among gainers, chip giant SK hynix rose 1.33 percent, and battery maker Samsung SDI climbed 3.74 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,337.35 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 1.65 won from the previous stock trading session’s close.
Meanwhile, South Korea posted a current account surplus in August, the central bank said on Thursday, the second highest on record, on the back of the robust exports amid the global semiconductor upcycle.
The current account surplus totalled US$46.1 billion in August, up $4 billion from a month earlier, according to data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Compared with the same month in 2025, the figure jumped $36.2 billion.
It marked the second-largest figure, following $49.73 billion set in June this year.
The figure remained above the $40 billion mark for the third consecutive month. In July, it stood at $42 billion.
Over the January-August period, the current account surplus totalled $279.2 billion, nearly quadrupling from the same period a year earlier.
“The current account figures through August are in line with the forecast,” a BOK official said, noting the annual current account surplus is expected to reach the projected $450 billion.
—IANS
na/