Seoul: South Korean stocks trimmed earlier losses late Wednesday morning as large-cap shares traded in mixed territory. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 8.57 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,609.23 as of 11:20 a.m.
According to Yonhap News Agency, overnight Wall Street finished mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.4 percent, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 percent to a record high on better-than-expected earnings from Alphabet, the parent company of Google. In Seoul, large-cap stocks showed varied performances.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.89 percent and its sister company Kia retreated 0.21 percent. Leading oil refiner SK Innovation saw a decline of 0.91 percent, and major shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean decreased significantly by 3.87 percent.
In contrast, tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.17 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix reported a gain of 2.26 percent. LG Energy Solution, South Korea’s leading EV battery provider, added 0.86 percent, while g
ame publisher NCSOFT climbed 2.57 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,382.8 won against the U.S. dollar, up 3.7 won from the previous session.