[Featured Stocks] NAVER and Kakao Shares Fall Amid Decline in US Tech Stocks

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] As the Nasdaq index, centered on technology stocks, fell more than 3% in the US stock market, the stock prices of Korea's leading internet platform companies NAVER and Kakao are also showing a downward trend.

At 10:13 a.m. on the 6th, NAVER was trading at 345,000 KRW, down 2.68% from the previous trading day. At the same time, Kakao was trading at 100,000 KRW, down 5.21% from the previous trading day.

The Nasdaq index fell sharply after the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting from December last year, which contained hawkish content, were released the previous day. The minutes revealed that some members argued for an immediate interest rate hike after the end of asset purchase tapering, showing more hawkish content than expected. Additionally, forecasts that the growth rates of major growth stocks such as Adobe (-7%), Microsoft (-4%), and Amazon (-2%) would slow down this year triggered the decline in technology stocks.

Sangyoung Seo, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The possibility of a slowdown in software sector earnings in the US stock market has led to continued selling pressure on technology stocks, which is negative for the domestic stock market," and added, "Concerns about earnings will also increase mainly among technology stocks in Korea."