Seoul stocks trim earlier losses late Mon. morning amid rate woes

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Seoul stocks trim earlier losses late Mon. morning amid rate woes

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares trimmed earlier losses late Monday morning, with investors staying concerned over the Federal Reserve's determination to keep rates high for a while to tame inflation.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had fallen 15.29 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,465.11 as of 11:10 a.m.

The KOSPI opened sharply lower, tracking losses on Wall Street due to rate hike worries.

On Friday (U.S. time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 percent to 33,926.01 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.6 percent to 12,006.95 points.

The Fed raised the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points Wednesday as expected, and its Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank needs "substantially more evidence" to be confident that inflation is on a downward path.

Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 274 billion won (US$220 million) worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock purchases valued at 264 billion won.

In Seoul, tech and energy stocks were the lead decliners.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 1.7 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 1.8 percent, leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 1.1 percent, and cosmetics firm AmorePacific Corp. was down 0.3 percent.

Among gainers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. rose 0.1 percent, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. climbed 0.2 percent, and the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries Co., gained 0.7 percent.

The local currency was changing hands at 1,245.15 won against the U.S. dollar, down 15.75 won from the previous session's close.

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